Templar - [3.12] Spark / Crackling Lance Inquisitor - New Player Friendly Guide - League Starter - Forum

" supergruchalysy1 wrote: Which vaals to go with experimental and crackling Lance :D? Vaal Spark is optional. Otherwise I don't run any other vaal skills. Vaal Discipline might be good but I haven't had a lot of luck getting the gems. Largely the build is focused on doing things without access to Vaal skills to make sure anyone can make it to maps.	Posted by Scary3074 on Sep 22, 2020, 2:13:12 PM Quote this Post
" sipress wrote: Hey, hows it going just wanted to see how you feel about CL. I was league starting a different build similar to this one but now I am strongly considering pivoting to a different skill maybe storm brand, spark, arc, etc. Overall the skill does not feel great ATM granted I am still only in act 6 and am on a 4 link. I also wanted to go for intensity but it does not seem to work with spell echo or unleash for quick stack generation, not sure if this is a bug or intended. I want to like intensity but it seems too restrictive to be strong against bosses where you have to dodge attacks often. I am also wondering about Archmage's supports potential. I also saw mbXtreme video who tried League starting as a CL Archmage Necro. I know this is a different class and ascendancy so it is not 100% representative. I don't want to get too locked into a build that performs poorly once reaching end game mapping and have to heavily respec. Just some thoughts I have played several leagues/build before but this is my first true caster build. I didn't like CL much during the early/mid Acts but I liked it towards A9/10 and beyond. Spark has weaknesses in that it doesn't "hit" in differently elevated terrain (i.e. doesn't go over walls or into depressions unless you are on stairs). Spark also has challenges in choke points like on a Delve or tunnel type maps where its difficult to get the sparks to go towards enemies. CL complements spark in that where it is strong, Spark is weak. It does so in ways that Storm Brand just doesn't and I'm glad to have CL for that reason. What Storm Brand does that CL doesn't is keep pressure on a single target by doing smaller, constant damage to prevent ES regeneration. However, I don't think that the gain from SB outweighs the overall benefits CL adds to the build. I do not expect to respec the tree as my goal is to build my passive skills in a way that work (as best as I can) in the Acts with what I want for end game. FWIW I ended Act 10 with a 5L Crackling Lance and a 4L Spark skill set. Doing SSF / no harvest crafting, it was normal to beat Act 10 with two 4L setups for Spark and Storm Brand. If you are finding difficulty in the tree, determine what it is that is making play difficult. If you aren't getting the DPS you want, focus more on that than life. If you're dying more, focus more on the life skills. The order that I build for the experimental tree is not nearly as tested as the Spark OP guide tree.	Posted by Scary3074 on Sep 22, 2020, 2:26:17 PM Quote this Post
Fixing and reposting Last edited by sipress on Sep 22, 2020, 2:43:50 PM	Posted by sipress on Sep 22, 2020, 2:42:12 PM Quote this Post
" Scary3074 wrote: I didn't like CL much during the early/mid Acts but I liked it towards A9/10 and beyond. Spark has weaknesses in that it doesn't "hit" in differently elevated terrain (i.e. doesn't go over walls or into depressions unless you are on stairs). Spark also has challenges in choke points like on a Delve or tunnel type maps where its difficult to get the sparks to go towards enemies. CL complements spark in that where it is strong, Spark is weak. It does so in ways that Storm Brand just doesn't and I'm glad to have CL for that reason. What Storm Brand does that CL doesn't is keep pressure on a single target by doing smaller, constant damage to prevent ES regeneration. However, I don't think that the gain from SB outweighs the overall benefits CL adds to the build. I do not expect to respec the tree as my goal is to build my passive skills in a way that work (as best as I can) in the Acts with what I want for end game. FWIW I ended Act 10 with a 5L Crackling Lance and a 4L Spark skill set. Doing SSF / no harvest crafting, it was normal to beat Act 10 with two 4L setups for Spark and Storm Brand. If you are finding difficulty in the tree, determine what it is that is making play difficult. If you aren't getting the DPS you want, focus more on that than life. If you're dying more, focus more on the life skills. The order that I build for the experimental tree is not nearly as tested as the Spark OP guide tree. I am still deciding between arc and spark. I like SB for the added pressure as you said but not sure if I want to invest in the brand limit. I have also been using the synergy of Sigl of Power and want to work towards Archmage support to really stack the damage. I haven't rolled your build yet, I am still figuring out the direction I want to go. the build I started with is the Zizarans Crack lance build.	Posted by sipress on Sep 22, 2020, 2:45:08 PM Quote this Post
Hi Scary3074 ! Really like your build. I have a question. If I just replace Spark by Arc, is there anything I have to change in the skill tree/gem setup or is it just fine ? Thanks Last edited by abexandre on Sep 22, 2020, 4:15:47 PM	Posted by abexandre on Sep 22, 2020, 4:15:23 PM Quote this Post
" abexandre wrote: Hi Scary3074 ! Really like your build. I have a question. If I just replace Spark by Arc, is there anything I have to change in the skill tree/gem setup or is it just fine ? Thanks I have no idea :( The build is focused around spark, and I haven’t tried the shell with Arc.	Posted by Scary3074 on Sep 22, 2020, 5:16:42 PM Quote this Post
Hey, really enjoying this build. I have acquired all the items you recommend including an unnatural instinct jewel. I am a bit confused about the thread of hope and which passives to allocate. The separate skill tree on the pob doesn't really make sense to me. Do we only allocate keynodes or also some other passives? Thanks	Posted by RancidPanda on Sep 22, 2020, 5:19:40 PM Quote this Post
" RancidPanda wrote: Hey, really enjoying this build. I have acquired all the items you recommend including an unnatural instinct jewel. I am a bit confused about the thread of hope and which passives to allocate. The separate skill tree on the pob doesn't really make sense to me. Do we only allocate keynodes or also some other passives? Thanks Dang -- my reply got deleted but I'll try to repost what I remember. If playing Crackling Lance, I don't know that Thread of Hope is going to help due to not needing Runebinder and movement of Glancing Blows. It's possible a smaller radius ToH would allow for some cool pickups but I haven't looked at it. If playing Storm Brand, the Very Large Radius was to pick up Runebinder, Tireless, and GB. PoB didn't have a good way for me to capture how ToH worked so I had to add all of the smaller passives to record with major abilities were allocated with ToH. It's confusing because PoB wasn't working correctly with ToH (at least on my version). Unnatural Instinct is still probably good in the socket near Shaper but I'd be tempted (if playing Crack Lance) to drop it in the slot near Instability. I know you didn't ask, but I thought I'd put it out there for others.	Posted by Scary3074 on Sep 22, 2020, 5:49:06 PM Quote this Post
I was looking into duskdawns, the replica version gives you increased ele as opposed to increased spell. Would it be better to prioritize that?	Posted by xentaros on Sep 23, 2020, 2:39:07 AM Quote this Post
" xentaros wrote: I was looking into duskdawns, the replica version gives you increased ele as opposed to increased spell. Would it be better to prioritize that? I'm not sure. Right now I'm more interested in getting ANY Duskdawn than what I have. It's probably worth putting into PoB and running the calcs.	Posted by Scary3074 on Sep 23, 2020, 2:54:44 AM Quote this Post