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

I'm very interested in this build, but the caveat about having too many buttons is a bit of a red flag that I might not enjoy it. What would it take to automate the desecrate? Can we put it in the cwc setup? Could put flammability on a ring. Either double influenced, or I think i've got some ilvl 73 delve flammability rings laying around and it would be easy to craft t2 reduced curse effect and t2 life gain on spell hit.

CwC desecrate will not work at all. The brand activation scales with cast speed from corpse pact, and you need desecrate to scale equally with VD. CwC would spawn far too few corpses.

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jbmcarth wrote:

I'm very interested in this build, but the caveat about having too many buttons is a bit of a red flag that I might not enjoy it. What would it take to automate the desecrate? Can we put it in the cwc setup? Could put flammability on a ring. Either double influenced, or I think i've got some ilvl 73 delve flammability rings laying around and it would be easy to craft t2 reduced curse effect and t2 life gain on spell hit.

There is a coc vd build, but then your have to hit things with cyclone to make balls. What makes this build (arcanist brand x2) really strong for bossing is that you put your two brand on then have 6s that you can spend running in circles.

I don't play it with a lot of buttons tbh.

Two brands, leap slam / cyclone. When you cyclone you press your brand recall sometimes.

Most of the maps, its just your brands being recast as the entire screen gets deleted.

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jbmcarth wrote:

I'm very interested in this build, but the caveat about having too many buttons is a bit of a red flag that I might not enjoy it. What would it take to automate the desecrate? Can we put it in the cwc setup? Could put flammability on a ring. Either double influenced, or I think i've got some ilvl 73 delve flammability rings laying around and it would be easy to craft t2 reduced curse effect and t2 life gain on spell hit.

Like others have said, it's actually a way lower effort build than a lot of builds. Do you notice when I'm fighting Sirus or Maven I actually have windows when I'm just standing around idling, doing absolutely nothing, or walking in circles? Not many builds have that luxury, level of damage, tankiness AND map clear.

I would wager that per map, you actually press far fewer buttons in terms of raw numbers than most other builds, although you press a greater VARIETY. If that is a bad tradeoff for you, you may want to look at other builds.

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hipposcottamus wrote:

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jbmcarth wrote:

I'm very interested in this build, but the caveat about having too many buttons is a bit of a red flag that I might not enjoy it. What would it take to automate the desecrate? Can we put it in the cwc setup? Could put flammability on a ring. Either double influenced, or I think i've got some ilvl 73 delve flammability rings laying around and it would be easy to craft t2 reduced curse effect and t2 life gain on spell hit.

There is a coc vd build, but then your have to hit things with cyclone to make balls. What makes this build (arcanist brand x2) really strong for bossing is that you put your two brand on then have 6s that you can spend running in circles.

Ahaha I've been reading comments that it turned out to be a trap build (bad bossing performance without 100ex+ investment - as expected of a melee build) - so some cheap items may come onto the market soon.

The build look interesting, but i have some question about the build

1.How do you guys leveling the character ? are you guys doing it using another skill or just use the arcanist brand+volatile dead as soon as possilbe ?

2.What should i prioritize to buy first, and whats stats to look for ?

3.How is the survivability-wise ? is it often get one-shotted ?

Thanks for answering ! I'm really looking forward to play the build.

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Spell_Binding wrote:

The build look interesting, but i have some question about the build

1.How do you guys leveling the character ? are you guys doing it using another skill or just use the arcanist brand+volatile dead as soon as possilbe ?

2.What should i prioritize to buy first, and whats stats to look for ?

3.How is the survivability-wise ? is it often get one-shotted ?

Thanks for answering ! I'm really looking forward to play the build.

1. You need character level 90+ before switching to this build. You could level it as Volatile Dead Spell Slinger Necromancer or some Armageddon/Storm brand.

2. Build centers around Leadership's Price amulet (balance of Str and Int) and honestly requires assembling all the gear pieces before you can swap. I believe awoken spell cascade and level 20 Desecrate are also mandatory.

Items that can wait are Unnatural Instinct (generic +hp/mp/dmg/int) and Watcher's Eye(unlocks boots slot)

3. Survivability: as long as your brands are out and proccing you are almost immortal. Unfortunately when they run out you die fast. Either to ailments still left on you, degens or some random stun.

Two small items:
Pit of Chimera boss is a nightmare - he goes into cloud and you're defenseless trying to find him - since most of defensive power comes from interaction with target (Life on Hit, Sap, Fortify)


It's possible to attach 2 VD or 2 Desecrate Brands to boss with brand recall and die that way.

I am currently using volatile dead consumes up to 1 additional corpse enchant on the helmet. Tecnically, I shouldn't need an awakened spell cascade with using this enchant. Am I correct can someone confirm my point of view?

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arda820 wrote:

I am currently using volatile dead consumes up to 1 additional corpse enchant on the helmet. Tecnically, I shouldn't need an awakened spell cascade with using this enchant. Am I correct can someone confirm my point of view?

Not really correct. Awakened spell cascade consumes corpses front, back, and on each side of the target. And since this build has a ton of reduced area of effect from concentrated effect and arcanist brand, all the corpses detonate right on top of the target with awakened spell cascade. It’s a huge damage buff. With regular spell cascade they won’t all detonate on top of the target.