3.23 EXPLOSIVE ARROW BALLISTA ELEMENTALIST - League-Start to End-Game. Easy mode.

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zorndike wrote:

My EA Hierophant (98lvl, can push to 100) was able to do almost all of the content (except simulacrum, was able to reach 26 wave) on SC SSF archnemesis league.

Can Elementalist show at least the same performance level? Im trying to decide if this build worth trying on SC SSF.

This is very SSF friendly.

The only reason I'd consider Champion is HC.

Heiro would push your totem limit up easier, let you skip the Watchtower anoint for Charisma... but the thing is, if you're playing SSF, a pair of Golden Oils for the anoint isn't going to happen day 1. It's a lot easier to farm up 2 silvers for Watchtowers, and the DPS nodes on Elementalist are just as good as an extra totem.

Bottom line... there are good reasons why the Elementalist version became several percentage points more popular on SC SSF by the end of the league.

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grimjack68 wrote:

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zorndike wrote:

My EA Hierophant (98lvl, can push to 100) was able to do almost all of the content (except simulacrum, was able to reach 26 wave) on SC SSF archnemesis league.

Can Elementalist show at least the same performance level? Im trying to decide if this build worth trying on SC SSF.

This is very SSF friendly.

The only reason I'd consider Champion is HC.

Heiro would push your totem limit up easier, let you skip the Watchtower anoint for Charisma... but the thing is, if you're playing SSF, a pair of Golden Oils for the anoint isn't going to happen day 1. It's a lot easier to farm up 2 silvers for Watchtowers, and the DPS nodes on Elementalist are just as good as an extra totem.

Bottom line... there are good reasons why the Elementalist version became several percentage points more popular on SC SSF by the end of the league.

Ok then, I will give it a try. Ty for feedback.

My fear is the life sustain on EA builds, since I seen they only use life flasks for that, is there ways to improve it? Mainly on boss fights

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Prismaa wrote:

My fear is the life sustain on EA builds, since I seen they only use life flasks for that, is there ways to improve it? Mainly on boss fights

It's really not an issue. We don't get hit enough to run through the life flask charges, and if you're going into a fight where you might, you can swap to Ryslatha in the pantheon for charge recovery.

Seriously, bossing with this build isn't challenging unless you're unfamiliar with the mechanics. Even then... I did the Searing Exarch last league deathless first try, without any research or prep. Eater of Worlds needed a bit of research due to the little balls you have to stand on.

is this a good build for blight farm? ty for nice guide!

May have already been covered but what league mechanics does this build excel at and/or struggle with? Thanks in advance :)

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dollygm wrote:

is this a good build for blight farm? ty for nice guide!

This build worked really well for me in blighted maps, even managed to do some of the "ravaged" ones.

Anyone was farming alot of Delirium maps and simulacrums with the build? I'm asking because I heard some mixed opinions from perfectly viable to being oneshoot by Omni/Kosis.

I tried reading through but couldn't find anywhere that gave a ballpark budget for the higher end of this build. I played Wallach's siege ballista last league and it was the most fun build I've ever played. It uses a lot of uniques which can help to keep the cost down. I don't think I spent more than 20EX on that build in the end. High end rares are always so darn expensive. How is this build fare when it comes to budget?

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Moridin79 wrote:

May have already been covered but what league mechanics does this build excel at and/or struggle with? Thanks in advance :)

It's great at battles where you need a lot of damage on a single target - or a small number of targets. It worked really well for pinnacle bosses, and it worked very well for the Archnemesis content last league, especially in situations where you could drop all your totems, free the ArchNemesis monster, and walk away, letting your totems do all the work and take all the risk. Same kind of idea for Harvest garden plots - usually the totems can exterminate a patch without needing to be re-summoned.

Works great for Maven invitations at all levels.

Totems let you "shoot around corners", so the annoying maps like Cells... well, they are still annoying, but they are easy. And annoying.

The only challenge is speed. It's a bit slower than average on clearing mobs, and the clear happens behind you, due to the mechanic of dropping a totem, it fires, the projectile explodes after the timer expires, and if it's a tough creature it burns to death which is damage over time. This doesn't matter if you're running through the map so much, but if you're looting, it's easy for loot to drop off screen behind you if you're moving fast. A good loot filter will play a sound so you can go back, but even so, that's more time.

Due to this, most content where you need to move FAST can be challenging. For instance, breachstones. I had problems running the new top tier stones, I couldn't kill critters fast enough to keep the counter from timing out. Pure stones were still easy to do.