[3.16 - RETIRING BUILD] VD Brands: S-Tier Bosser, A-Tier Map! -- MURDERED BY GGG_INTERN SOMEWHERE--

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Manadrained wrote:

Can hit maximum effect of the alt ailments on shaper guardians (this one even had ele equilibrium on the map) will check vs sirus and other bigger bosses on next spawn / weekend when I get time.https://gyazo.com/fb988617dbc5e183af24bff46f8e580c

Ha HA! Inb4 nerf... Thanks for doing the science! Have been super busy last few days.

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IceColdPorkSoda wrote:

Got the build up and running but holy shit is my computer struggling. It just bogs down to a crawl and then I die. Used six portals on a Sirus dominated baran T16. But when a stay alive it kills things fast, lol.

Ack yea mate, it's one of the biggest cons of the build.

Disabling sound is going to help you a lot (production_config.ini > sound effects 2 = FALSE)

I’ll turn off sounds and see if that helps, but I’m thinking my video card is just too old. It’s a GTX 970. Shaders are constantly maxed. The whole screen turns to playdoh.

https://pastebin.com/WAaXXAQh

This is what I've been toying around with. It's bad, largely because I've been going blind, but the damage isn't too bad. This is trying to go Archmage / Mana.

Ah yes, I was keen to see how the experiment is going!

Mana or not, try to tweak for Leadership's Price mate - the build really pops off with em.

Hey guys!

I was looking for a fun non meta build and I am really happy I stumbled upon this one. Great guide, great build, I am having quite a bit of fun with it atm!
I am only level 78 and missing quite a few passives but it's still working pretty well.

I did a few things differently, I am not sure if any is better than what you guys have been trying, but here are the things I changed:

- As I managed to get a headhunter this league after 2 weeks of farming and really wanted to use it in this build, meaning I don't have a belt slot for life / resistances
- I am using Asenath's Gentle Touch gloves for the corpse explosions + blind + temporal chains, but that meant that I need to use Whispers Of Doom anoint to get a second curse and can't use Battle Rouse to help alleviate mana issues.
- I am using the Perfect Form on the armor slot, I just love this armor piece, the free Arctic Armor (and thus freeze immunity), decent evasion (I get about 40% chance to evade) + Phase Acrobatics feels very good in terms of survivability.
- I am using the cluster jewel Kitava's Teaching to get the notable Disciple of Kitava, we're always spawning corpses so I felt it fit quite well in this build and it gives mana and life regen every second
- Because I have a HH + Asenath I can't get enough resists if I go for a Leadership's Price, so I decided to go for the cluster jewel Secrets of Suffering. But this means I need to do enough lightning and cold damage to make it work. It's not perfect yet, but with just a abyssal jewel with T1 added lightning / added cold damage to spells, I manage to get 30% Scorch, 5% Sap and Brittle on most bosses.
- The jewel in question also has 2% of damage recouped as mana which is not as good as Battle Rouse but helps a bit.

Here is my "version"'s PoB if some are interested:

https://pastebin.com/TeeSHusY

"

I feel like there are still a lot of things to improve but I have 2 main issues at the moment:

- Mana consumption is just insane, when you get to 200%+ cast speed the mana just runs out too fast for even an enduring mana flask + clarity lvl 20 (had to replace Skitterbots with it for now). I am also using a Divergent Life On Hit on Cyclone to squeeze a bit more mana per hit, as well as the 2% damages recouped as mana jewel, but even with all that I am permanently out of mana when the build ramps up. I still do tons of damage but I feel it could be so much more without mana problems. Do you guys feel the same way or is Battle Rouse just this good?
I am considering using a Lavangia's Spirit mana flask as well as an enduring mana flask but losing a flask slot may hurt.
- The 2 brands playstyle is sometimes weird, if you don't time it properly (you cast the 2 brands too fast), sometimes the second brand won't cast (seems like PoE doesn't buffer skills) and the few times I have died are pretty much because of me only having one of the 2 brands out. Might just be that I need to slow down when playing this build but wondering how you guys manage that (I am considering putting everything on only one arcanist brand)

Anyway, thanks a lot for a great build and all your discussions those past few pages, it's been really interesting to read!

Edit: don't mind the anomalous arctic armor with prolif, I used that before setting up Secrets of Suffering and forgot to remove it :p

I am using Leadership's price. Giving up Foible hurt but the damage increase has been really good.


Archmage is mostly a source of extra added damage.

Honestly, I cant get my mana up anymore. I'm at 3.5k mana, which isnt nearly enough.

Hypothetically a Helmet with Immolate and Innervate would probably do more added damage right now, but that is expensive.

But the alternative is getting the 5-8k or so Mana the build needs for damage.

https://pastebin.com/L7B19phx

Here's my take on the build. Single brand set-up. EB/MoM. I need to improve my gear a lot but I like the way it feels to play more than I did when descerate and VD were on separate brands. It makes mapping way smoother when I'm not lagging incredibly hard.

The next thing I’m going to experiment with is specing out of some block and into the light eater cluster, and then replace energy leech with concentrated effect.

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Diacred wrote:

Hey guys!

I was looking for a fun non meta build and I am really happy I stumbled upon this one. Great guide, great build, I am having quite a bit of fun with it atm!
I am only level 78 and missing quite a few passives but it's still working pretty well.

I did a few things differently, I am not sure if any is better than what you guys have been trying, but here are the things I changed:

- As I managed to get a headhunter this league after 2 weeks of farming and really wanted to use it in this build, meaning I don't have a belt slot for life / resistances
- I am using Asenath's Gentle Touch gloves for the corpse explosions + blind + temporal chains, but that meant that I need to use Whispers Of Doom anoint to get a second curse and can't use Battle Rouse to help alleviate mana issues.
- I am using the Perfect Form on the armor slot, I just love this armor piece, the free Arctic Armor (and thus freeze immunity), decent evasion (I get about 40% chance to evade) + Phase Acrobatics feels very good in terms of survivability.
- I am using the cluster jewel Kitava's Teaching to get the notable Disciple of Kitava, we're always spawning corpses so I felt it fit quite well in this build and it gives mana and life regen every second
- Because I have a HH + Asenath I can't get enough resists if I go for a Leadership's Price, so I decided to go for the cluster jewel Secrets of Suffering. But this means I need to do enough lightning and cold damage to make it work. It's not perfect yet, but with just a abyssal jewel with T1 added lightning / added cold damage to spells, I manage to get 30% Scorch, 5% Sap and Brittle on most bosses.
- The jewel in question also has 2% of damage recouped as mana which is not as good as Battle Rouse but helps a bit.

Here is my "version"'s PoB if some are interested:

https://pastebin.com/TeeSHusY

"

I feel like there are still a lot of things to improve but I have 2 main issues at the moment:

- Mana consumption is just insane, when you get to 200%+ cast speed the mana just runs out too fast for even an enduring mana flask + clarity lvl 20 (had to replace Skitterbots with it for now). I am also using a Divergent Life On Hit on Cyclone to squeeze a bit more mana per hit, as well as the 2% damages recouped as mana jewel, but even with all that I am permanently out of mana when the build ramps up. I still do tons of damage but I feel it could be so much more without mana problems. Do you guys feel the same way or is Battle Rouse just this good?
I am considering using a Lavangia's Spirit mana flask as well as an enduring mana flask but losing a flask slot may hurt.
- The 2 brands playstyle is sometimes weird, if you don't time it properly (you cast the 2 brands too fast), sometimes the second brand won't cast (seems like PoE doesn't buffer skills) and the few times I have died are pretty much because of me only having one of the 2 brands out. Might just be that I need to slow down when playing this build but wondering how you guys manage that (I am considering putting everything on only one arcanist brand)

Anyway, thanks a lot for a great build and all your discussions those past few pages, it's been really interesting to read!

Edit: don't mind the anomalous arctic armor with prolif, I used that before setting up Secrets of Suffering and forgot to remove it :p

Ha-HA! Someone with a HH for the build! I imagine if you managed to Soul Eater into a Minotaur you could get an instant pop eventually!

I hope you're not too discouraged by the slow speed currently because trust me, once you get the hang of it, it absolutely plows open map layouts because it turns from casting BEFORE packs to casting IN BETWEEN them - then you are basically racing against your own balls to hit the next packs.

The massive power spike comes from your next 10 passive points, I'll highlight where!

Here are some tips that will transition the build from 'awkward off-meta' to even 'hey, this is smooth, it should be meta' for you

To address your concerns:

1 - Mana consumption - yes! I felt that way. However after a few tweaks, here's what makes it super comfortable:

A) Two passive points into Mystic Bulwark gives you extra mana and 23% mana regen - 46% if you go Glancing Blows.

B) Remove Arcane Surge on Desecrate - I toyed with this idea but realised it's counterintuitive - the slight increase to mana regen doesn't pay for the amount of mana drained from a 300% cast speed Desecrate brand ticking.

C) Very good call on the recoup mana - it's a great mod. I would go that route myself, but I need the resists on my jewels for now.

2 -

Yes, I am overdue for a video on "Tips and Tricks" on playing the 2-button playstyle, my bad. There's a ton of tricks to "reset" an error - for example - if you fuck up 2 brands, just recast 1-2 again then Recall on top of the target. The newest brands attach to the target, and the 2 "wrong" ones will be prioritised later. This is most obvious when, during learning, you fuck up on the boss. So just recast correctly, then "Pull" the wrong brands off the boss with Recall.

But you guessed right - slowing it down is the key factor! Versus Sirus, for example, you really learn to just drop 2 brands and really chilllll. When I first started playing I tried to keep 4 out and more often than not scuff it. Use 4 for map clearing, and in boss arenas, just drop 2, let them tick happily on the boss for a few seconds, then drop 2 fresh ones, get on the boss, and "Recall" attach them.

There is one thing I cannot understate - buy a cast speed Cane of Kulemak, and watch the playability go through the roof. I was shocked at how different the build felt.

Also, since you have Asenath's Gentle Touch, you are GOING to love Enigmatic Reach. The 37% increased AoE makes the chaining range go from "medium" to "entire pack". It also gives a lot of cast speed.

Finally, grab an Unnatural Instinct immediately, it gives you INSANE offense and returns 2 passive points to you! It gives: 58% increased damage (with Spritual Aid), 10% maximum mana (yum), and 30% increased corpse health which is insane - so now your corpses have 180% life instead of 100% from a normal Desecrate. Big booms!

Pick up Spiritual Aid (Necro Ascendancy = 60% increased damage alone), Enigmatic Reach, and Mystic Bulwark, and watch the build transform from a trainwreck into something pretty elegant, I'd like to think.

Finally, when you've a spot of time and levels.. Leadership's Price mate. We're back to pre-3.15 levels of damage on the quiet without requiring even Harvest-tier helms.

I'm glad there are players still actively seeking off-meta! It really goes against the narrative that off-meta builds can't do endgame. Most people just mean "what streamers build" and that's it.