Cocktail/Thermite mines commando
Grimtools: http://www.grimtools.com/calc/D2p08a2q (hold Ctrl + Shift to see base level of skills without item bonuses)
I’m still using relatively weak rings, pants and perhaps even shoes. Good rares/MIs could all replace them.
This build was inspired by the DEE witch blade build.
Pros:
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Gladiator Crucible capable: great tanking ability, great sustain. Damage is sufficient and AOE is fantastic.
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Good for Challenger crucible too, I don’t have another build with equal clear speed and reliability (due to the tankiness).
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Pretty safe, I don’t play Hardcore but pretty sure this is Hardcore viable.
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I had fun leveling this up, Cocktail/Mines turns the game pre-75 into easy mode.
Cons:
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Terrible damage outside of the crucible
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Fire is an iffy damage type (many monsters with high fire resistance).
[b]# Defenses:
[/b]2.4-2.5K DA (if you use Untouchable)
>80% all basic resist, 80% stun resist, 30% freeze resist, 0% entrapment resist however.
57% chance of 1700 damage block without overguard
100% block recovery with 3166 damage block when Overguard is on (either with Untouchable proc or Serrated Shell).
Blast Shield and Mark of Divinity for circuit breaking.
>800 health regen with Overguard when both Giant Blood and Healing Rain procs,
Decent armor, fast, has flash bang, searing light, cocktail debuff (18% physical damage reduction).
Doesn’t have to stand still - can just kite monsters around while waiting for them to burn to death. It’s highly safe and suitable for people who play the game half asleep (like myself).
I don’t know about Triple Iron Maiden since they haven’t spawned for me yet but the build can face tank Fabius + Iron Maiden + another random boss in Gladiator.
# Offenses:
Adequate. The timer can reset in Gladiator if we meet Iron Maiden with some bs gears (I got a Maiden spawn once with some ridiculous mutator/gears and her regen dragged the fights to minutes). But otherwise, unless it’s bad luck, all are managable.
I have a full Ultos Primal strike character and I’m surprised that this build can clear Crucible faster. The key here is Cocktail’s ridiculous AOE and lingering burn damage. Also the build is tanky so we can move freely about without depending on Banners.
# Gearing and alternative
The only critically important pieces are Warpfire and the Ulzuin headgear. The resist reduction helps killing resisting bosses before the timer is up.
The other 3 pieces of Ulzuin’s set (amulet, chest, shoulder) got dragged in because of the headgear because I wanted the +2 Demo skills, but otherwise they are replacable. Alternative: Infernal Knight set (it’s more of a chaos damage set, which we don’t benefit much from).
Other replacable pieces: I used the Untoucchable since it dropped early during the run but this build can reach 100% block recovery without it so one can substitute it with Siegbreaker (serrated shell) or Vanguard of the Black Legion (different augments set up for resist). Shoe is definitely replacable with random rares with resist, health etc, if you use Siegebreaker then Golemborn + Siegebreaker is a nice combo for good physical res, but otherwise the build doesn’t depend on high physical res. For Challenger, Skybreach Bulwark is a valid replacement for even more damage.
# Devotion notes
I suppose for fire and burn Ulzuin’s Torch is a natural consideration, but don’t really like it (I feel like green/red constellations are in an awkward spot since it’s hard to balance offense and defense, even with really good constellations like Chariot and Behemoth. Abom at least has health and a lot of good poison constellation to make up for it but Ulzuin’s Torch really gets the short end of the stick, you barely get any more damage and little to no room for defense).
The Stone Form celestial power is optional. It’s not that all reliable and the build doesn’t rely on it. Instead, the 4% health and 20% health regen node in Tree of Life is very attractive. Personally I take Stone Form anyways.
Order: Put 1 pt in Red, Blue and Green at Crossroad. Then take Rat. Then Eel. Then develop Behemoth. Then develop Solael’s Witchblade.
Afterwards remove Rat and the green/blue nodes at Crossroad and develop blue constellations normally.
[b]# Attributes
[/b]
We need 10-15 points in Spirit to wield Warpfire (I actually messes this up a bit and now depends on one of the rings for the spirit bonus to wield it)
The rest goes to Physique
[b]
Skills & devotions
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Level up Cocktail -> Flametouched -> Mines -> Vindictive Flame ->Agonizing Flames first
The rest goes in any order. This level up just ensures you can run around quickly and kill fire immune mobs.
Until you have Mines and Agonizing, use Chilled Steel component skill (Ice Spike) to kill fire immune.
I put 1 point in Firestrike, Explosivestrike and Static strike to make use of all the +skills from Ulzuin’s set. They also help killing stray enemies when cocktail is on cooldown. When leveling up, they’re not needed.
# Gladiator Crucible notes
Go to wave 100, use the Vanguard banner. Fight till wave 110/120 then get an Empyrion blessing and an Amatok blessing (if you take them on 100, they might run out on wave 147+, we don’t need to take them too early since we can survive just fine)
Enemies to be careful of: Anasteria (lower resist hurts). Zantarim has a vitality missile shower move that he ONLY does when you’re far away. I once charged him when he’s in the middle of doing this and he one shotted me with Overguard on.
The strategy is just to Blitz around to draw aggro and throw mines/cocktail to clear. Scatter mines against trash, stack mines under bosses.
# Challenger Crucible changes
We can neglect a bit of defense in Challenger for faster clear speed.
Skillwise, take Oleron’s Rage instead of Menhir’s Bulwark.
Itemwise, take Skybreach Bulwark instead.
For Banner and blessing set up, we don’t NEED any of them, the build can survive without either Empyrion’s Guidance or Stone banner. Spend the Crucible points on Might of Amatok, Vanguard Banner and to reset the crucible instead (go 100-150, reset thrice).
# Some notes on Thermite Mines
To kill bosses quickly, try to line up multiple mines beneath them. This is easy for big bosses, but for smaller bosses (Iron Maiden) go to any corner and bounce the mines against the wall. You’ll get 2-3 mines stacked on top of one another. Try to lure to the boss to the spot. Since the build is tanky, we can hold them at the spot while waiting for them to die.
# Outside the Crucible
Up until level 75 (Veteran/Elite) this build does just fine, very safe to play and Cocktail helps leveling up very quickly. Afterwards it becomes a bit slow and sluggish since we have too much defense and too little offense. Won’t kill Nemesis/Mad Queen fast enough. You can of course still kill them but the timing won’t be impressive.
I suppose a different set with Chaos damage (Infernal Knight set, Demon Fire, Hellfire Mines) will do better in Ultimate.