[3.12] New CoC Meta

Hi everybody,
here is my take on the reworked Lancing Steel and as you will see it has some nice twists or..



..how to become a walking totem.




I'll try to keep it as compact and informative as possible. Let's go..


6 things I enjoyed about the build

1. It is very satisfying to play due to the myriad spells fired per second.

2. It was my league starter and works on a relatively small budget.

3. It is a bit hipster, since most people use Cyclone for their CoC builds and it looks really fancy to cast more than 12 spells per second.

4. It has awesome map clear and you can easily run T16 maps (expect for elemental reflect).

5. It is very tanky due to several layers of defenses, and the hit and run playstyle.

6. It combines three different skills, which synergize really well.






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The concept of the build.

The main idea is to use the reworked skill Lancing Steel to proc a Cast on Crit setup. In order to get the most spells out of a single hit with Lancing Steel you want to maximize the number of projectiles. For this purpose, we use Greater Multiple Projectiles, which directly leads us to using Ice Spear, since it is one of the few spells, whose single target DPS is increased by additional projectiles. Alternatively, we can use e.g. Spark or the new Blazing Salvo, which also work really well in high tier maps, but fall off a bit versus end game bosses such as Sirus.
Since Lancing Steel fires so many projectiles per second, I also use Glacial Cascade for mapping, which synergizes really well with Ice Spear, since it knocks the enemies back such that Ice Spear can reach its second form. In addition, non-boss monsters will hardly touch you, since they are constantly knocked back, chilled, hindered, blinded and/or frozen.
Furthermore, we use Call of Steel to reach the maximum number of projectiles fired by Lancing Steel, namely 30.
In addition, I put Vortex on my left mouse button to apply arcane surge and bonechill.

I want to point out that this guide is meant to give you an idea of the build and showcase some of its possibilities. The build is very flexible and I strongly recommend to test and adjust it on your own based on your personal taste.


The playstyle.

In general, the playstyle is quite simple. We run around most of the time, while using Lancing Steel whenever the previous attack has finished (i.e. about every other second) and cast Call of Steel from time to time (i.e. after every third attack). As mentioned above, it is somehow a mixture of an active attack based playstyle (since we have to aim our attacks with Lancing Steel and a totem playstyle, since we have so much 'free' time, while the cloud of projectiles created by Lancing Steel does the work ;)




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Brief overview:
Spoiler

This is just a short presentation of my gear and skill tree. If you want to find out how exactly everything works together read the explanations below.

My gear:
Spoiler


In addition, I use a Militant Faith (with Dominus), a Thread of Hope, two cluster jewels with Corrosive Elements, and with Evil Eye and Wish for Death, and a Watcher's Eye with Energy Shield gained on hit while affected by Discipline.




My skilltree:



Path of building.

Spoiler

https://pastebin.com/Zqt4KmC9

As you see, we reach 160k damage per projectile (without temporal buffs/flasks/etc.). Since Ice Spear fires 8 projectiles with Dying Sun and it is cast about 6 times per second, this results in a maximum dps of 7.680.000. With better skill gems (awakened gems, lvl 21, etc.) this number can be considerably increased.
Even though not all projectiles usually hit the target in practice, this leaves us with more than enough dps for any encounter in the game.



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Important gear choices:
Spoiler


In order to hit the enemy often enough you either want a weapon with the mod Hits can't be evaded or you socket the jewel Transcendent Spirit in the shadow area. A cheaper option would be to use the shield



For more damage, I choose to go low life. For this pupose, you need the armour and the amulet. But this build also works very well with CI.


I found that the shield gives me a huge defensive boost. But feel free to try out different shields. Some nice options are:
- the Prism Guardian to use additional auras/heralds/etc.
- a rare shield with a lot of energy shield and +1 to all cold skill gems (and some resists, damage mods as needed)
- Lycosidae, if you can't afford a weapon with the mod Hits can't be evaded or Transcendent Spirit
- the normal Mistwall


The ring is used to apply Assassin's Mark to tougher enemies. Ideally, you should look one with better mods, e.g. more energy shield/resists/damage.


Elemental Equilibirum gives a hugh damage boost, if we remember to cast Storm Brand. However, I forget it most of the times since it is simply not needed.


I use a belt with cooldown recovery speed to decrease the 150ms cooldown from Cast on Crit. However, since I couldn't find the exact fire rate of the projectiles from Lancing Steel it is uncertain whether the belt is needed.

Jewels:
- a Militant Faith (with Dominus) for 21% more damage,
- a Thread of Hope to save a bunch of skill points, which can then be spend on cluster jewels
- a Watcher's Eye with Energy Shield gained on hit while affected by Discipline, which provides a huge survivability boost.




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Other gear choices
Spoiler

The remaining gear slots (helmet, gloves, boots) should be used to get the required attributes, cap your resistances, and increase your energy shield pool.





Flasks:

The Dying Sun is quite important since it adds both damage and quality of life (i.e. Lancing Steel uptime). The rest of the flasks can be chosen based on your personal taste. A movement speed flask is not necessary, since I prefer to use Whirling Blades for movement, but that's just my taste.

If you have some currency, Cinderswallow's Urn and Thhe Bottled Faith are decent damage upgrade.



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Defence & Utility
Spoiler

Our best defense is our playstyle, since we run around most of the time and only attack every other second. Moreover, in maps, most enemies usually don't hit us, since they are constantly:
- knock backed (more than 6 times per second)
- chilled
- frozen
- blinded
- hindered.
Apart from that, we also have:
- Fortify
- Enfeeble
- stun immunity Presence of Chayula
- dodge chance from elusive
- consecrated ground from Zealotry
- reduced damge taken from Opportunistic

Also you can use whatever Pantheon skill you feel is necessary.


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Skill-gems & Setups
Spoiler

Lancing Steel

- Lancing Steel, Cast on Critical Strike, Greater Multiple Projectiles, Ice Spear, Inspiration, Glacial Cascade/Elemental Focus

I use Inspiration, since I have a red socket, but you can exchange it for another damage multiplier depending on your socket colour.
For endgame bosses I sometimes (but very rarely) replace Glacial Casacde by Elemental Focus for more damage.


Malachai's Artifice

- Storm Brand

Another option to proc Elemental Equilibirum would be Orb of Storms.

Applying Curses, etc.

- Cast when Damage Taken, Withering Step, Frost Bomb, Enfeeble

Cast when Damage Taken is at level 1 and the level of the other gems is adjusted accordingly.




Aruas, etc.

- Discipine, Summon Skitterbots, Zealotry, Enlighten

- Hatred, Precision, Blood Magic

This setup leaves me with 4 unreserved life and 30 mana, which is more than enough, since we use so little.


Movement Skill

- Whirling Blades, Fortify, Faster Attacks

I just like the feeling of Whirling Blades. Alternatively, you can use, e.g., Shield Charge or Dash (if you are willing to give up Fortify).

Vortex

- Vortex, Bonechill, Arcane Surge, Increased Duration

As mentioned above, we use Vortex on our left mouse button to apply arcane surge and bonechill effect.



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Skill-tree & Ascendancy Nodes



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Video
Spoiler

coming soon



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Frequently asked questions:
Spoiler

This sounds nice in theory but does it really work?
Oh yes it does!! I have to say I had my doubts as well but I was really surprised how good this build performs overall.


Is the build beginner friendly?
In general, I'd say it is. However, I am a casual player and although I will try to check this thread throughout the next weeks, I can't promise to provide much help or updates, so you should be sure to understand everything on your own.

How can I improve the build with my 100ex?
There is a lot of room to improve. Obviously, my rares are shitty and you can easily get above 8k ES with good ones. In addition, there are some cluster jewels, which could provide a huge damage upgrade to the build. And of course, you can add better skill gems (lvl 21, awakened gems, more quality, etc.).


Which anoitment should I take?
Ture strike.







PLEASE HELP TO FIGHT THE CLIMATE CHANGE!


Please help to fight the climate change!
Last edited by limonenovecento#2291 on Nov 5, 2020, 5:19:43 AM
Last bumped on Nov 27, 2020, 9:38:42 AM
Hey mate it looks cool, what is it able to achieve ? (ie. Sirius A8)
Is it tanky enuff to heist with not too much problem ?

Thanks :)

Last edited by Yloss#3582 on Nov 4, 2020, 9:58:27 AM
"
Yloss wrote:
Hey mate it looks cool, what is it able to achieve ? (ie. Sirius A8)
Is it tanky enuff to heist with not too much problem ?

Thanks :)


Hi, heisting is not a problem at all. Due to the insane crowd control of the build (i.e. knock back, chill, hinder, blind, freeze,..) your are unlikely to be hit, if you are not idling in a corner.
The damage for Sirus A8 is definitely there. So if you can deal with the mechanics of the fight, it is easily doable. However, keep in mind that this is not a super tanky build, which can facetank most of Sirus's attacks such as the die beam, chaos storms, meteor maze, etc. so I would not recommend it for your first attempts on this fight.
Please help to fight the climate change!
Last edited by limonenovecento#2291 on Nov 4, 2020, 10:06:00 AM
When will you post the video? I'm kinda interested in how it works on bosses.
One more thing pls: since there's no pob yet how can we lvl it and should we lvl as life and then switch to ll ?
naebka
Last edited by dboySasha#9320 on Nov 12, 2020, 7:50:16 AM
"
Yloss wrote:
One more thing pls: since there's no pob yet how can we lvl it and should we lvl as life and then switch to ll ?


I just added the pob.

Personally, I leveled indeed as life, since I have no experience with leveling a build with energy shield. So I don't know whether (or how well) this would work.
I switched to the cast on crit setup as soon as I got Deadly Infusion (and used a high level precision aura).
Please help to fight the climate change!
Last edited by limonenovecento#2291 on Nov 5, 2020, 5:24:33 AM
Well i'm simply too bad at lvl up chars with different skills etc than the intended final build ... i just screw up and end with a char unable to finish act 10 let alone merc lab ... sigh
"
Yloss wrote:
Well i'm simply too bad at lvl up chars with different skills etc than the intended final build ... i just screw up and end with a char unable to finish act 10 let alone merc lab ... sigh


Too bad. You can try to message me in game if you need help.
Please help to fight the climate change!
I followed a similar life based lancing steel COC ice spear deadeye build in 3.6. Very fun and end game viable build back then. Switched to using spectral throw to proc after they nerfed lancing steel shotgun. Haven't tried the newly reworked lancing steel. Glad to hear it's viable again.

Just want to add that deadeye is a great option for life base version. It gives some crit, excellent speed, free accuracy and pierce(amazing for clear).

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