(The screenshot was made before the patch. After a nerf, the highest I got so far on Fabius was 850k.)
First, if you want a guide for a build which clears Crucible Gladiator, kills Mogdrogen or Ravager with a lot of videos…well, don´t bother reading any further. I don´t play Crucible, don´t make any videos and I don´t think this build can kill superbosses. But it´s fun to play nonetheless.
Second, all credits go to TZ Tz for his inspiration with the “Bloody Assassin” for Vanilla. This build is just an expansion of that build for AoM. Special thanks to Chthon, jajaja and Superfluff for giving me some feedback and advices.
Grimtool-Links:
Probably the best setup: http://www.grimtools.com/calc/YZeYo3vZ
Current setup: http://www.grimtools.com/calc/aZqmOD9Z
Non-MI-Setup: http://www.grimtools.com/calc/b28njMDZ
Update to 1.0.5.1:
Polished Version for Ancient Grove: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/q2mGbDlZ
Crucible Version: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/a2EjdrmV
Update to 1.0.7.1:
Current Setup: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4VxWxdr2 (insane MI, I know)
Setup without any Greens: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/w26vz982
Gameplay:
Well, this is a melee build with really good crowd control. We step in and place our Wendigo Totem, debuff everything with Devouring Swarm and Entangling Vines, perhaps freeze some foes with Ring of Steel…and loot. If there is a large group of enemies, we don´t want to engage with this many mobs to fight, we soften them up and kill them easily, when they reach us.
Against bosses, we have really good Resistance Reduce and very high bleeding DoTs, especially against Humans and Beasts. And we want more than one enemy to procc the set bonus of Bloodrager´s set (every kill gives us a huge boost)!
If the shit hits the fan, we can always rely on Pneumatic Burst and Blade Barrier.
Mouse-/Keyboard-Setup:
LMB: Savagery
RMB: Pneumatic Burst
1: Energy Potion
3: Shadowstrike
4: Ring of Steel
5: Devouring Swarm
6: Entangling Vines
7: Health Potion
0: Aether Cluster
M4: Wendigo Totem
M5: Blade Barrier
Pros:
• High Mobility (Shadow Strike, Movement Speed)
• A lot of HP (up to ~18.000)
• Crowd Control against nearly everything
• High Damage Output (lesser against Undead and some Cthonians)
• Fast Kill Speed
• Circuit Breaker with Blade Barrier
• Healing with Wendigo Totem, Pneumatic Burst and Chariot of the Death Devotion
Cons:
• Low Armor
• Struggling to get high OA/DA
• Puzzling out capped resistances is a game for itself
• No Physical Resistances
• Hard to cap Stun Resist
While you can see the itemization including augments/components and the devotions including bindings, I will only add a short Q&A. As always, there are alternatives, e. g. instead of Oleron´s Fervor on weapons we can give us more life with Bloodscale Powder.
1. Why Grasping/Entangling Vines?
Simple: Crowd Control. With Rend bound to Grasping Vines we can split up whole groups and soften them up or kill them right away. Entangling Vines even can stop Flesh Hulks!
2. Why Ring of Steel with Cold Transmutor?
Again, Crowd Control. It can give us a few seconds if swarmed and all foes are bleeding. Especially in Malmouth, this could be a lifesaver.
3. How good is this build against bosses?
Nemesis:
Fabius:
He´s human, absolut no problem, if he doesn´t use Mythical Cruel Edge or Mythical Notched Bone of Thousand Deaths.
Zantarin:
Mind his shotgun, otherwise easy, although he doesn´t bleed very well.
Iron Maiden:
I will never know.
Moosilauke:
My personal nemesis. His freezing is annoying, he hits very hard (no physical resistance…) and he is a skeleton. He isn´t really a problem but no fun to fight.
Benn´Jahr:
Boring, but easy. Nothing special, but bleeds lesser than other Nemesis.
Kubacapra:
After the patch, he´s killable. I now like the fight, a little bit kiting and the breath doesn´t hurt so much anymore.
Aleksander:
He´s human…´nough said. Beware of Meteors!
Grava´Thul:
Kind of strange. Most times, he´s pretty easy (but we need Blade Barrier), sometimes he 2-shots me.
Reaper:
I will never know.
Superbosses:
Ravager:
Haha…no.
Mogdrogen:
Never tried him; he´s arrogant as hell but he´s the god of the Rovers. And I like them (probably not killable…)
Secret Boss:
Well, we can beat Lokarr. But we have to make some preparations. First, we need really overcapped Fire Resistance. I took Mythical Sash of the Immortal Mage to gain this, but Mythical Devil´s Cage Hauberk will do, too. Second, we need Physical Resistance. I tried it with nearly 20k Life and without Physical Resistance and died…a lot. So I respecced and took Primal Bond instead of Stormcaller´s Pact (16 % Damage Resistance). This (and a few Aether Cluster during the fight which lasted for 5 minutes) can bring him down.
Others:
Mad Queen:
After the patch, I was surprised because she was a lot harder than before. Died a couple of times, didn´t know why. Then, I got the clue: “Massacre” (the mythical relic) got buffed and we now have a shotgun which proccs quite often. Well, Mad Queen has a greater shotgun, so she wins this fight…
Shadow Strike in, hit her with all you have, have good timing with Blade Barrier and then kite her with Grasping Vines (Rend), Devouring Swarm (Falcon Swoop) and Massacre Procc. She will go down pretty fast.
Act Bosses/Rogue Dungeons:
No problems with any of the bosses, except for Alkamos, who is a little bit annoying because…well, Undead. For farming, I prefer BoC instead of SoT.
Crucible:
If you really want to try it, I would suggest to use Primal Bond over Stormcaller´s Pact. Changing a few devotions might be mandatory.
Feel free to suggest or criticize anything.
Videos:
Short fight vs. Fabius
Meeting Kubacapra
Flames of Valbury
Shar´Zul in seconds
Sentinel (including Blueprint Drop)
Alkamos (Undead can bleed!)