[3.19] Ice Dancing Queen - Icestorm/Cyclone/CI - Viable For Everything

Huh. It feels like something changed in this league.

I took my level 97 ascendant on Standard out on a Poorjoy's Asylum run, and I was getting easily killed even with a full spread of icestorm out at 11.5k ES.

This character in a previous league was rock solid and extremely tanky. It does not feel that way now. I didn't change anything.

Weird.

Only just started the build but was browsing your profiles for inspiration and I noticed some of you guys are still running quicksilver flasks with these boots.



With them equipped your movement speed is stuck at 150%, meaning you can't increase or decrease it.

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RolyPaulie wrote:

Only just started the build but was browsing your profiles for inspiration and I noticed some of you guys are still running quicksilver flasks with these boots.

With them equipped your movement speed is stuck at 150%, meaning you can't increase or decrease it.

Too lazy to find another flask with the suffix I have.

"

Graiaule wrote:

Huh. It feels like something changed in this league.

I took my level 97 ascendant on Standard out on a Poorjoy's Asylum run, and I was getting easily killed even with a full spread of icestorm out at 11.5k ES.

This character in a previous league was rock solid and extremely tanky. It does not feel that way now. I didn't change anything.

Weird.

Yes. I'm getting splatted with some regularity in T10s with 5k ES and 1.2k Int, which is low but not horribly so (resists fixed, Cyclopean Coil in, flasks cover remaining vulnerabilities, Corrupted Blood jewel acquired). I can't say this with much certainty, but it seems to be more prevalent in curse maps, especially when hit with Vulnerability (but that shouldn't be the case for you).

The only thing I'm doing different from the guide is I'm putting Vortex in a full-on Bonechill setup (Vortex, Bonechill, Hypothermia, Unbound Ailments), linking Arcane Surge to Frostblink separately, and putting Arctic Armour on a ring for now. I took 3 points out to take the cold ailment cluster above Ghost Reaver to amp the Bonechill damage increase up to 24-25%.

The damage output is fine, but random mobs can do a surprising amount of incoming damage. At first, I thought it was a consequence of playing Occultist rather than Ascendant (my previous full run with this build was with the 3.5 SR version), but if you're having problems with an ascendant build it points to a systemic issue.

When you say previous league, do you mean Heist (post nerf) or Harvest (pre nerf)? Trying to figure out if it's due to leech/hit rate or something else that's changed in Ritual.

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Seiyashi7184 wrote:

When you say previous league, do you mean Heist (post nerf) or Harvest (pre nerf)? Trying to figure out if it's due to leech/hit rate or something else that's changed in Ritual.

Both Harvest and Heist were fine and were more or less like Delirium (except for the boss stacking in Heist.)

I couldn't afford a watcher's eye in Heist, so I figured I would die a bit more often, which was the case. However, my standard char has the watcher's eye (+30 ES on hit.)

Note I have the hatred cluster jewel build on Standard, if that somehow makes a difference.

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Graiaule wrote:

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Seiyashi7184 wrote:

When you say previous league, do you mean Heist (post nerf) or Harvest (pre nerf)? Trying to figure out if it's due to leech/hit rate or something else that's changed in Ritual.

Both Harvest and Heist were fine and were more or less like Delirium (except for the boss stacking in Heist.)

I couldn't afford a watcher's eye in Heist, so I figured I would die a bit more often, which was the case. However, my standard char has the watcher's eye (+30 ES on hit.)

Note I have the hatred cluster jewel build on Standard, if that somehow makes a difference.

Nothing obvious in the Ritual patch notes. Was there a ninja accuracy buff to monsters or something?

I was myself wondering whether the build needed some updates to take advantage of new forms of defense (like Glancing Blows or some of the Legion keystones), since it's very much an old-fashioned leech tank build. Glad to know it's not just me feeling it.

Sorry, I haven't checked the forums in a few days. My play time is a bit limited, and I'm having such a blast with the Occultist that I'm spending all my time playing the game! Profane BOOM is awesome. And I'm not having any issues with stun at all. Should make a mapping video, I think.

I've been working on the Atlas while gradually improving my gear and tweaking the build based on my experience. Just reached AL8 finally. Lv 96 from all the xp along the way and very few deaths. Ironically, Sirus AL7 dropped better loot than Sirus AL8! AL7 dropped Awakener's Orb, Awakened EF, a watchstone and gloves, while AL8 only a watchstone and the worthless helmet.

I have not seen The Maven (as a killable boss) yet. I have the 10-kill meters full in some regions but she is not inviting me to 10-boss fights. I see posts in the Bugs forum about that. Apparently it's random or something. The next patch (3.13.1) is supposed to change that. So far all multi-boss fights have been a joke.

Anyway, you can check my profile for the current state of the build. And I'll try to find some time to post some updates and answer the questions.

Build update

Results from the first week are in. I've been slowly working my way through the Atlas. Finally reached AL8 and finished all non-unique maps. All that xp and almost never dying got me to lv 96 before I could even see the new endgame.

New video: mapping in T16

Main points:

1. Profane Bloom all the way. Loving the explosions!

Not being immune to stun was only noticeable in early mapping while my gear was very bad. To compensate for that, I swapped Enfeeble and Frostbite to have Enfeeble as an aura, and used Fortify in my staff. That reduced incoming damage by a lot and made me very safe. My own damage was more than adequate for white/yellow maps even with Fortify and 1c items.

After adding Aspect of the Spider and upgrading to 2k+ Int, I stopped noticing the stuns happening and started using Blasphemy Frostbite and Inspiration.

2. Blasphemy.

Technically, the explosions can be triggered by the mobs hitting you. But as you get stronger, they rarely have a chance to hit you first anymore. Having 1 curse applied as an aura makes those explosions happen instantly.

This is also nice for early league when your gear is crappy. Enfeeble aura makes you safer. However, against big bosses such as Sirus, Frostbite aura and Enfeeble on CWDT is much better. And eventually you won't need Enfeeble aura in mapping either.

3. Aspect of the Spider.

Since we already have 3 auras (with Blasphemy), adding Aspect requires spending 4 skill points (Sovereignty) and a gem slot. I'm not too happy about that since it makes the Occultist do less single target damage compared to the Ascendant. But the clear speed with Blasphemy is worth it. And Aspect is a great aura to have, both defensively and offensively.

4. The Stampede.

I was already recommending these boots for the Ascendant. But for the Occultist they are even more valuable. It's even more focused on the clear speed. Anointing Lucidity saves 3 skill points. And having evasion and stun/block recovery is actually valuable when you are not immune to stun.

5. Resists.

Resists are harder to max as a Witch compared to the Scion. I'm using Alira and rare jewels with Int + All Res until I get 2x Prismatic Heart and expensive rings.

6. Cluster jewels.

They are still very expensive. But it's not very hard to craft your own clusters. According to a guy who's way ahead of me, the best way it to alt spam CttC + Widespread and then try to regal Prismatic Heart. Can start using them as soon as they have CttC (it's always in the first slot) and then try to craft better ones.

And for the curse one you can easily alt spam Wish for Death and use that while trying to regal Master of Fear on another one. Use free Harvest rerolls too.

I switched to the cluster tree as soon as I could afford 2 Int/ES Split Personality's, with half-baked clusters. And I'm still working on crafting the perfect ones.

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phantom_god wrote:

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leafyr0kr wrote:

finally switched to clusters (at least, the left cluster with the two split personalities). 10k ES, 2.150 int.

not gonna lie, it feels like it wasn't worth it. with the ex spent on this build, I would be facerolling all content on another build. you kinda need to invest heavily to have semi-decent single target, and elemental resistances become a nightmare to balance after you switch to clusters

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i hate to say it but i feel the same way :s i am siting at almsot 9k es with very nice items 2100 int

my dmg is nothing i can sit at the same boss forever and it just take so long

my friend with brand build just 1 shot 4 shaper guardians while i had to roll around forever dodgeing and trying to keep myself alive while dealing close to no dmg :s

i hate to say it but i am going to invest in another build prob just cant find what one

While the single target DPS is still suffering from the 5-storm limit, I find the part about 'dodging everything' suspicious here. Why are you dodging everything? This build is not supposed to dodge anything but real 1-shots. You get on top of the boss and destroy it.

Don't be afraid to tank. Not many things can 1-shot you, as long as you use the proper defenses: F&S aura, upgraded Solaris, Tukohama, defensive flasks. Some bosses that may do too much directional damage (e.g. Baran, Hydra, Rigwald) can be 'danced around': you spin in a very tight circle on top of the boss, just don't let it take persistent aim at you.

Sure, there are actual 1-shot things you need to dodge (e.g. Veritannia's first attack with multiple swirls). But then you get right back on top of them. You can learn quickly enough and remember all of those real 1-shot cases. Just don't dodge everything that looks scary.

The only bosses that take too long for me are the ones that constantly dodge you. Most notably, Sirus. But how often do you get to fight Sirus? This is not a Sirus carry service build.

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Jespetin wrote:

I just corrupted my Astramentis. 6% Int, 5% Str. The game really wants me to play WI haha.

We don't corrupt Astramentis anymore, not since 3.8. Tranquility anointment is much better than %Int corruption.