[3.12] The Forgotten Gem - Stormbind Hierophant - self-cast 30+mil DPS AoE shotgun.

This build features what many regard as a meme gem. A gem that is nowhere to be found in league builds. A gem that's actually incredibly powerful.

Build has been updated for 3.11. For further notes and changes, head to the changes section below. 3.12 had no impact on the PoB

With proper investment, Stormbind will guide you through the entire endgame.


Stormbind is unique. Its AoE and damage increase as it is improved by its secondary ability: Rune Blast. The uniqueness comes from the fact that explosions from runes overlap, allowing for shotgunning effect to occur.

With enough AoE, we can squeeze out 3x3 and even 4x4 rune explosions if the target is perfectly placed in the center. That means our 2mil blast becomes 18mil up to 36mil DPS.
Those numbers are based on my current gear and setup. With more investment into damage, this, of course, can get much higher.

The damage comes mostly from scaling our mana consumption via Indigon and Doedre's Malevolence (LEGACY, PRE-3.11).


For 3.11, swap Doedre's for Voidbringers with =<+50 mana cost to skills.

To keep up with the mana needs, we invest heavily into mana, mana regen and Arcane Surge, which we also get for free from the ascendancy.

And what unique works great with high mana amounts? The Ivory Tower.


This rather new, amazing unique allows us to scale both Energy shield via life reservation and boost our mana by a ton. Another huge benefit to having large mana pool is the fact that chaos damage is taken directly from our mana, and not life. We can then use Prism Guardian to reserve our life and further increase our ES.

Lastly, to not be forced into using Presence of Chayula to not get stunned, we use a pair of Skyforth boots that count our mana for stun threshold instead of life.


Effectively, the game thinks we have nearly 50k mana, and it's essentially impossible to stun us. If we do take a massive hit or do run out of mana during mapping, the uber lab enchantment together with Brine King pantheon covers the possible stun issues.

This also opens up the possibility to run best-in-slot amulet for a high mana consumption build like ours: Atziri's Foible.


PROS:
- Extremely high DPS
- Low Life (free auras)
- Tanky
- Elemental-ailment immune
- Insane clear
- Fantastic boss killer
- PRETTY EXPLOSIONS :)

CONS:
- Requires mandatory uniques
- Relatively expensive (~10ex in uniques alone as of 01.05.2020)
- Can feel clunky at first
- Unsuitable for Simulacrums

Stat importance, in order:


Current gear, links and stats (upd. 04.05.2020):


Pantheons:


Leveling up:


3.11 changes


Current PoB for 3.11


Video showcase:

FAQ:

Q: Will this build work with Shav's?
A: Yes, but you'll lose out on scaling that The Ivory Tower provides, as well as ES and tankiness (chaos damage will hit your ES instead).

Q: Are Skyforth necessary?
A: No, but they are preferable. They are best-in-slot for protection against stuns. You could run Chayula's, but then you'll lose out of mana perks from Atziri's Foible.

Q: Why not use Skitterbots?
A: I wanted to, but I could not fit them into the build. The 15% less life reservation in comparison to Zealotry means we lose a lot of ES.

Q: Energy from Within seems like a great idea for a build like this. Why not use it?
A: I've tested it. 8% ES and 10% mana beats EfW jewel (both in defenses and offensive capabilities due to Hierophant's ascendancy scaling)

Q: What's the most important offensive stat?
A: Surprisingly, it is cast speed. The ability to qickly cover larger area and improve placed runes is key to massive DPS and safer gameplay (less time being stationary).

Q: So much mana! Why not use Mind over Matter?
A: Unfortunately MoM does not work with Low Life builds. The damage will only be taken into our mana pool once our ES is depleted... which doesn't exactly help when our unreserved life pool is ~300.

Q: Why separate Stormbind in the helmet?
A: It is used to improve our cast speed for Rune Blast. Since it is used only for detonating and improving runes, it has no effect on its damage. We benefit from Faster Casting support and high level Arcane Surge.

Q: Can a different curse be utilized?
A: Yes. If I was to choose, I would either go for Ele Weakness or Enfeeble on gloves, or Conductivity on the ring. However, Temp Chains synergize really well with the already reduced movement speed Stormbind provides, also allowing enemies to stay in your blast radius and not run off.

Q: Your items are no longer verified. Did you change your gear?
A: If they no longer display as verified, it is most likely because I applied incubators to them. Any gear changes will always be mentioned in the appropriate section.

Q: Why double Arcane Cloak?
A: The 20/20 AC is self-cast when we feel safe. The 1/0 AC is in CWDT setup for protection and lesser damage boost (we have to remember that mana protects us from chaos damage, so the less we consume, the safer we are).

Interesting. I like it so far.

Why a second set Stormbind in the Helmet?

"

StorgutBorsit wrote:

Interesting. I like it so far.

Why a second set Stormbind in the Helmet?

I knew I should have mentioned the reason for it. My bad.

The reason for it to be in a separate link is to link it to faster casting speed and lvl 20 arcane surge. It only acts as sort of a detonator for the runes, and with increased casting speed, it charges them incredibly fast (<0.5sec for all stages in my case). It also boosts the mana regen

It will also display the improved cast speed in game in tooltip.

Sorry if it may sound dumb: so you use 6-Link Stormbind first and to detonate you use 3 Link Runes?

"

StorgutBorsit wrote:

Sorry if it may sound dumb: so you use 6-Link Stormbind first and to detonate you use 3 Link Runes?

Precisely. The damage still comes from the 6L runes you initially placed. The 3L is utility for faster improvement of the runes.

Hi, can you clarify double arcane cloak in gloves?

"

LegionSD666 wrote:

Hi, can you clarify double arcane cloak in gloves?

Hi there. Sure.

The level 20 arcane cloak is self-cast for bosses, when we know we are safe. The more mana consumed means we get much more lightning damage out of it.

The level 1 is there in CWDT setup to provide us with protection and damage boost as well, but at lesser mana expense. We have to remember that mana protects us from chaos damage, so the less we consume, the safer we are.

"

Ydoum wrote:

"

LegionSD666 wrote:

Hi, can you clarify double arcane cloak in gloves?

Hi there. Sure.

The level 20 arcane cloak is self-cast for bosses, when we know we are safe. The more mana consumed means we get much more lightning damage out of it.

The level 1 is there in CWDT setup to provide us with protection and damage boost as well, but at lesser mana expense. We have to remember that mana protects us from chaos damage, so the less we consume, the safer we are.

Thank you very much! Just tried this build on t16 fully juiced promenade and it's surprisingly fun and interesting to play. Damage is insane even without helm enchant (couldn't get even 25% stormbind damage as it's almost end of league and all sellers are offline) and minmaxing.

https://pastebin.com/tTmtidEv
my pastebin, any ideas what I could improve apart from leveling gems? (don't mind life flask , using cinder already)

"

LegionSD666 wrote:

https://pastebin.com/tTmtidEv
my pastebin, any ideas what I could improve apart from leveling gems? (don't mind life flask , using cinder already)

A few pointers:

1. Double clarity WE (chance to recover mana on cast / mana recovery rate). Luxury option: mana es extra ES - good luck with that, haha. Even I can't afford it
2. Higher cast speed wand
3. More bonuses from small cluster jewels (higher ES, mana regen, int)
4. More mana/int/es on misc. items, e.g. rings and belt
5. Try to find/craft items with chaos res as well
6. Divine slam the heck out of your Starforths for more mana :)
7. Enchant your boots