since the nerf on this build is this still the best out there?
or is there anything better now? a build that can do more dmg than this and survive?
To put it into perspective. SB is still better than pierce BM was in 0.8 an0.9.
Now after nerfs to SS and NDJE pierce SS BM is absolutely pathetic. No joke, no rant. Damage is so crappy, it’s like playing with random gear.
In spite of the above cold BM and SB can do ok. They just aren’t top dogs anymore.
Hello there, can someone explain how exactly the last patch is a nerf for frost templates like this one ?
When I red the patch note, it seem frost get buff everywhere.
I don’t understand.
[Itemization]
- Legendary - Alkamos’ Touch of Anguish: reduced flat Cold damage
- Legendary - Alkamos’ Touch of Dread: reduced flat Cold damage
[Class & Skills]
- Celestial Procs now have a shared cooldown on skills that summon multiple pets (ex. Thermite Mines, Wind Devils). The affected skills have received a buff to compensate for this change. (not a directed nerf to that build but still)
Devotion
- Leviathan: reduced Frostburn damage to 15 / 3s (was 25 / 3s)
- Blizzard: increased number of projectiles to 10, reduced cooldown to 3.2s (you may think its a up but with the implementation of shared celestial proc CD it is weaker than before)
Nightblade
- Blade Spirit: increased Pierce and Cold damage scaling with rank (same thing than with blizzard)
- Elemental Awakening: reduced Frostburn damage scaling with rank
- Execution: reduced % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks to 330% by max ultimate rank (9% weapon damage reduction)
- Shadow Strike: reduced % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks to 360% by max ultimate rank. Reduced Cold and Pierce damage scaling with rank, primarily at ultimate ranks. (reduction of 8.7% weapon damage, and a reduction of 9.3% of flat damage at 16/16)
- Nidalla’s Justifiable Ends: reduced % Crit damage to 35% by rank 12, 45% by max ultimate rank (was 50% at rank 12 / 75% max rank)
Arcanist
- Star Pact: reduced Frostburn damage scaling with rank
aight i think that is all, overall dummy timer jump from 19-20sec average to 25-26sec, so around 30% slower than previous patch.
Still waiting grimcalc update to have exact new value of spells.
Thanks 
That’s nice and clear
So is this build dead now, and if not how should i exactly level up this character??
I play pretty much this build and its been smooth sailing up to early Ultimate at least. At this point I’m a bit gimped by my lack of gear, grinding a bit to even out resists.
I leveled as Nightblade using Shadow Strike for single target and Ring of Blades for AoE until I could max out Nightfall and then I just used Shadow Strike and Blade Spirit. Doing it again I might have gone into Arcanist way earlier and maxed out OFF and used that for AoE instead.
The build isn’t dead. While it got hit pretty hard by the nerfs, it is still tier 1. Testing showed that dummy times have been increased by around 5 seconds.
Build updated for 1.0.1.0/1. I know I have been a very lazy author, but an update is an update nonetheless!
Hi! I’m tired of pet builds, and quite interested in this build.
Nerfed? Doesn’t really matter, it looks so interesting, but I really need some assisstance here. Will there be a step-by-step leveling guide?
For example, which skills I should lvl up first, how many skillpoints I should use, and which ones to respec after certain lvl…etc? In fact, it is my first time to play SB. It would be very nice, if you could make one.
use any leveling guide that involves arcanist or nightshadow. Youtube is your friend. The build you see here is the final build after you (never?) acquire all the needed components
Thank you! As you mentioned, there were nice guides to how to level them up. I think I’ll just do the following:
"I leveled a Spellbreaker and had a lot of fun.
I used Fireball and Greater Fireball when I got those components (searing ember and flintcore bolts, which you have to craft). Put them on a caster-offhand.
I maxed Olexra’s Flash Freeze first. Then put points in Nightblade, getting a few points in Pneumatic Burst (for the total speed and heal) and then 1 point in Shadow strike (for teleporting).
Then I maxed Absolute Zero."
yes, something like that, level up to 30 with olexa flash f. while starting to work on nightblade and shadow strike after you take it’s auras…shadow strike and ABB are strong on it’s own anyway. at lvl 50, start farming steps of torment etc you’ll get some decent gear. Don’t bother with keys for steps levels beyond 3, at first.
This build is insanely fun - I don’t use it in crucible, but for mowing down basically anything in game at crazy speeds, this is it.
http://www.grimtools.com/calc/aZqzvvNd
I don’t have all the items he has listed, namely the two rings and olexra’s, but I regularly get 100k+ hits with this.
would be nice to have a smal but usefull lvling guide on start progression, gear, point distrobution, devotion path…
Hi guys, currently running this Build in HC (lvl 75+), trying to figure out a Devotion setup that is not quite as agressive.
Cant really make up my mind though on what to pick so im happy for suggestions. Due to Item limitations im not running a dagger currently which makes Latern useless for me, whats the best way to replace it without losing Leviathan?
Didnt play for quite a while, how is Giant these days? really doesnt look that great anymore, but would be an option to replace latern with.
Here’s my current version in HC too : http://www.grimtools.com/calc/mN4ogmZg
I still need a peice of gear that would max my poison/aether/chaos resist
It’s quite tanky, for exemple I kill Iron Maiden/Fabius ezpz facetanked.
ty for sharing mate, ill take a look
So i’ve been tinkering a bit with the Devotion tree to come up with something for my HC SB (Been using the Setup of Mr Tek recently but feel like im not doing enough dmg without leviathan, but im also undergeared since im playing selffound and my previous SB riped).
My Goal is to get to Lev with minimal effort and to maximize defensive devotions and i came up with this, but i didnt do any testing on this yet:
http://www.grimtools.com/calc/pZr4kj26
Now im wondering if Targo is actually still good these days?
Could also scratch Amatok i guess, might not even be needed. I would have 15 spare points to put into defenses
(tree like this: http://www.grimtools.com/calc/gZwBGbVj )
any thoughts on it?
I’m currently in my 40s. I’ve been leveling with OFF and greater fireblast. When should I be looking at switching to ABB and SS? Also, which devotions are best to go after first?