[3.16] Dark Pact Totems | The smoothest spell totem skill around, now post-nerf updated

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BlueeGreg wrote:
@Omega

Level 45 is still really early in, like ~2 hours of playtime. The char should feel a lot stronger once you get your 2nd Ascendancy, because that gives you a bunch of regen and 25-30% More Damage, depending on your totem count.

Your current char also has not a single point of flat Life on your leveling gear. While Life isn't needed for twink leveling, it is very nice! Also, a +2 AoE Gems Tabula is highly recommended, and only costs 15-20C. That will carry you until at least Level 80. Otherwise your leveling gear looks really good!

I'm still not sure why you feel like you're struggling and with low damage. In 3.12, I twink leveled my char and switched right at Level 40, and things felt amazing. By the time Blood Aqueduct rolled around, it was the fastest and smoothest totem char I had ever played.


hey man, thanks for the reply, so here are a few things i noticed after i wrote that post.

1) i didnt grab +1 chaos gem wands, so i replaced both with +1 to chaos gems with highest spelldamage combo at my level, only cost me 3c each and feels much better now
2)i dont know how i didnt do this but i didnt even do my first lab yet, the first lab only gives us 1 more totem and placemnt speed, but man what a difference the placement speed was, i can dodge much more now, and i dont get stunned or hit as often.
3) I was still running HoI and HoT for my freezing pulse setup, this is why i didnt go MoM yet, but once i noticed and took them out, threw on vitality and grabbed MoM, now i feel like i can survive much much better.

overall, now that i made these changes, the build actually feels really solid, some rares take a little but here and there, but bosses so far are going down pretty smooth. I am starting to feel the potential of the build, i am mostly just flying through the acts now. thanks again for the reply!!
@Omega

Yes the first Hiero Ascendancy node is probably the strongest first node in the game, and is the strongest for sure for anyone who wants to play Totems. The second node is also deceptively strong. The third and fourth are a bit of a let-down, though.

The idea is that the player grabs Hiero's first node at the same time he grabs Ancestral Bond keystone on the tree. Boom, you go from 1 Max Totem to 3 Max Totem, with no real penalty. Your placement speed also gets 'doubled' at this point too!

Early MOM, and Vitality Aura, should help your survivability a lot, so it's good that you're running that now.
i got 3 empty sockets in my wand what should i use? i was thinking clarity to regen mana or is there a setup for preventing super hard hits? or should i just do a low lvl cwdt-immortal call-increased durr in my wand? i already have a high lvl cwdt-immortal call in my boots tho
Hey, how isa this build clear sspeed, DPSS and survivabilit compared with elemental hit ballits totens??

thx alot
Conc Effect vs Chaos Damage vs Inc AoE instead of Void Manip? Snagged a very good Skin of the Loyal for very very cheap but it's 3R3B.
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Hallgrimsson wrote:
Conc Effect vs Chaos Damage vs Inc AoE instead of Void Manip? Snagged a very good Skin of the Loyal for very very cheap but it's 3R3B.


Looking at the numbers, Conc Effect is the strongest choice to replace your green Void Manip. Hopefully the AOE still feels OK after that, for map clearing. Added Chaos Damage Support, even the Awakened version, is a terrible support gem for us since high level Dark Pact has lots of flat Chaos Damage already.

Awakened Increased Area could also be used, but I think it costs too much for what it provides.
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andrelb1 wrote:
Hey, how isa this build clear sspeed, DPSS and survivabilit compared with elemental hit ballits totens??

thx alot


I haven't played Ele Hit, so I don't know. Someone else will have to answer. I will say Ele Hit looks strong with the budget gear, I just don't know much else beyond that.

Dark Pact and Ele Hit scale so differently too, so you won't be able to test easily on the same character. Different skill trees, gems, and gear. Good luck with your choice!


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macasdude wrote:
i got 3 empty sockets in my wand what should i use? i was thinking clarity to regen mana or is there a setup for preventing super hard hits? or should i just do a low lvl cwdt-immortal call-increased durr in my wand? i already have a high lvl cwdt-immortal call in my boots tho


Basic things I consider when my build has 'bonus sockets' is:

Better support for things like Immortal Call / Steelskin, so maybe Increased Duration.
Better support for Vaal skills, or adding more Vaal skills. Usually Increased Duration here.
Better support for Arcane Surge, Flame Dash, Phase Run, etc.

You can always add in more low level CWDT triggers, like Cold Snap, Void Sphere, Frost Shield, Tempest Shield, and more. The overall impact will be tiny, but hey who cares? You can also level gems for selling later.

I don't recommend Shield Charge - Fortify, because that forces you into dangerous situations and the uptime is always terrible when you need it most; dodging scary bosses and you don't want to be diving into their melee range lol.
For survivability, Ele Hit ballistas have taunt+blind on hit, kaom body armour, grace+vaal grace, acro+phase acro+wind dancer, CWDT with 4 endurance charges, phase run, I'd say it's better for that reason, but any totem build is good survivability because you can just place totems and start moving away. The clear is nice, but I've found the single target lacking and to solve that you really REALLY want +8 frostferno and +2 amulet and that costs an arm and a leg. I'm still leveling Dark Pact but I've bought the full gear set, including +3/inc dmg Skin and Astral Proj for under 3ex, and the large cluster I can use one from my Poison BV that fits well. I'm hoping this build will have similar altar performance but better boss killing which is what I'm looking for.
Last edited by Hallgrimsson on Jan 31, 2021, 2:32:41 PM
Ok guys, I am level 89, i have invested about 40ex into my build, I was able to snag the only +2 implicit skin of the loyal on the market with our colors, i have 100% ailment immunity, I have about 4k life and 1600 mana with MoM and 40% with ascendancy. My dark totems are level 29 (i cant find a level 21 Anomalous one for now) and the damage is great. The problem is my survivability in t14+ maps. I have all res maxed out including 70% chaos res. but I am just getting one shot left and right, I have immortal call, I have all the recommended flasks you have and man I just feel so damn squishy, I cant take a single hit, or i am dead. I have level 19 vitality, but I don't think any of that is the issue, I mean i literally will be walking and boop, one shot, just not even a chance to move, just full life one sec, and then im dead the next second. Anything you can look over my build and tell me what I can do better. I don't really have much room for improvement on the gear, I tried to stick to what you recommended when it comes to our gear, I know I could get more life and mana here and there, but I think the issues is i need some form of damage mitigations than just putting on some more life.

Plz help or make any suggestions, thanks!
Loving this build. This will be my first 100 without a doubt. Very fun to play!

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