This is a fun little build I drafted up when I saw the Vindictive Flame cooldown reduction on the Ascendant Conduit MI. Level 26/16 Vindictive Flame has a 1.0 second cooldown between each activation, but if the player wears two Ascendant Conduits, Vindictive Flame procs every time the player is hit (-0.5 cooldown for each Ascendant Conduit). Vindictive Flame also has additional skill modifiers in the amulet and medal slot which add more flat fire and lightning damage each time it procs, which means that each proc can deal tens of thousands of damage depending on how much elemental damage, crit damage, and OA the player stacks. This is limited only by how frequently the player is taking damage. Let’s take a look at two potential zero-cooldown Vindictive Flame build:
Saboteur Version
Grimtools: http://www.grimtools.com/calc/a2d1388V
Video: https://youtu.be/q5yU98FauYQ
(watch https://youtu.be/q5yU98FauYQ?t=43 to see infinite vindictive flame procs in their full glory, which somehow deals damage through Nadra the Shadow’s Blade Barrier)
Purifier Version
Grimtools: http://www.grimtools.com/calc/M2ga6XYZ
Video: https://youtu.be/y2dKg4ATvIc
These are examples of builds without any double greens, which means it’s actually feasible to find the gear for this build without investing hundreds of hours of farming. Obviously double rares would be better, but this build can hold its own in Ultimate just fine as it is.
Purifier vs. Saboteur: What are the main differences?
Despite having substantially more crit damage via Arcane Empowerment and Deadly Aim, I’ve noticed that the clear speed between the two builds is roughly the same. Purifier kills stuff about 25% more quickly, but you lose the ability to manually activate a circuit breaker when needed (Blade Barrier). This means that if Fabius or another enemy activates their own Blade Barrier, you will die if you don’t move IMMEDIATELY thanks to near infinite Vindictive Flame procs being reflected back at you (each instance of reflection triggers a VF proc). Saboteur traverses the map more quickly thanks to Shadow Strike, and your Vindictive Flame hurts more as a Saboteur because you don’t have to sacrifice your medal slot in order to dual wield. As a Purifier, you gain substantially more physical resist OR elemental resist reduction depending on the exclusive aura you choose. Purifiers also have more HP due to Vigor, but you lose some total speed and HP regen due to losing Pneumatic Burst. Inquisitor Seal grants flat damage absorb which, combined with greater HP, makes Purifier tankier overall. Because of the difference in tankiness, Purifier would be better in the Crucible.
Pros:
+Great AoE damage [slightly less as a Purifier]
+Potential for huge damage spikes [about equal to Purifier version]
+Good healing capabilities with transmuted Pneumatic Burst, good HP regen, and acceptable life leech [more than Purifier version]
+Lots of debuffs and resist reduction [even more with Purifier]
+fun and active (why does that sound like a yogurt commercial)
+young and hip, all the kids like flames and vindictiveness
Cons:
-Low HP if using Ulzuin’s set [higher HP as a Purifier]
-Enemies that attack slowly don’t trigger Vindictive Flame as often, which moderately reduces DPS
-sparse DoT means you have to be up close and personal in order to do damage.
-low physical resist (10%). Transmuted BWC mitigates this problem somewhat. [Physical resist can be higher as a Purifier]
Itemization:
Two Ascendant Conduit are mandatory for achieving zero-cooldown Vindictive Flame procs. If you’re lucky enough to find ground damage (enemy blackwater cocktails, aether cocktails, blood pools, etc.), Vindictive Flame will kill anything near you in a couple seconds. Any elemental affixes are good, but “Of the Elements” gives nice attack speed and flat elemental damage bonuses.
I went for 4 pieces of the Ulzuin’s Infernal Avatar because the amulet gives additional flat damage to Vindictive Flame. The helmet also gives a fire resist reduction proc, and since I was already wearing two pieces, I figured I might as well go for all 4. If you want to be a lot tankier at the cost of a lot of DPS, the Justicar Guard set is another option even if you don’t benefit from any of the skill bonuses.
Mythical Chilling Grasp of Hagarrad is so-so, and from my tests it seems to be on par with Mythical Iceskorn Talons. As mentioned above, a Justicar set piece could be worn here as well.
I picked Nemesis for the relic, but Ulzuin’s Pyroclasm performs admirably as well. I just like shadow striking alongside my little buddy. As a Purifier, Ignaffar’s Combustion gives even more elemental resist reduction.
Mythical Ulzuin’s Torment is a must have for the nice damage bonuses, the OA, and the skill bonuses.
Mythical Pyroclasm Mark is taken solely for its Vindictive Flame skill modifier, although the +2 to Vindictive Flame isn’t necessary because you’ll be well over 26/16 anyways. The attack speed and bonuses to max resist are nice as well. You can replace the medal with Mythical Mark of Divinity for more health and regen, but you’ll lose about 25% of your Vindictive Flame damage and you’ll lose some autoattack damage as well. This item will be the first on the chopping block if I end up having trouble surviving. As a Purifier, you need to wear a Mythical Direwolf Crest in order to dual wield. You could wear a dual wielding relic instead, but Demo and Inquisitor relics are just too good to pass up.
Solael-Sect Legguards are for resistances, but you can pick whichever MI pants you’ve found that have the best resistances available. Many of the new nemesis MI pants would be appropriate as well, especially if you roll a combination of resistances and HP.
Mythical Reign of Ice and Fire is where things get interesting. It’s a zero-cooldown proc just like Vindictive Flame, so when your Vindictive Flame procs start piling up, it’s not unusual to see over a dozen Reign of Ice and Fire procs flying all over the place. I included this item mostly for the fun factor and the great damage/crit/OA bonuses, but it can be replaced with a well-rolled Gollus’ ring. The one I use is a mediocre roll, but it gives me important stats regardless.
Finally, Mythical Golemborn Greaves rounds everything off with nice armor, HP, and resistance bonuses. Physical resist is sorely needed, but a well-rolled pair of rare boots with HP would work well here. Mythical Stormtitan Treads also works well here if you’re a Purifier and have decent physical resists through Aura of Conviction.
The components and augments speak for themselves. My focus was on Resistances, OA, HP, and HP regen.
Devotion
I worked towards Blind Sage, grabbed the proc from Leviathan, and grabbed the bonuses (but not the proc) from Attak Seru. It’s possible to get the Attak Seru proc by moving around Eldritch points, but I found the proc to be underwhelming due to half of the damage (Aether) being unused in this build. Behemoth helps a lot with facetanking, but it’s technically optional as the Eldritch points aren’t necessary to reach the tier 3 devotions in this build. Hawk and Wolverine help with OA and DA respectively, and Empty Throne gives much needed resists (especially the stun resist). Scholar’s Light solves your energy issues while giving a nice damage boost, and Rhowan’s Crown is amazing in all respects. Toad is an extremely efficient way to get 6 devotion for 4 points while providing useful stats (the fourth node is underwhelming for this build though). Spider is well-rounded, and Lizard helps with regen while giving you access to Behemoth. Ghoul is another nice option which can be taken instead of Behemoth to provide you with another circuit breaker.
Attributes
If you take the devotion path provided in the link, you’ll get a lot of Spirit bonuses, which means you’ll only have to put 12 points into spirit to wear everything you need. The rest goes into physique.
