Aether SS and exploring Mark of Torment to it’s max potential are two things I’ve wanted to try for a long time and this is the result. A nigh unkillable build when played right with SS bursts of up to and over 800K dmg. It Also has great CC via stackable slow, a mechanic I’ve grown more and more fond of.
[v1.0.4.1]Video: 159-170 Gladiator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiS1S0kn3hI
Legion map means losing a minute comparable to Crucible of the Dead map and some spawn problems which force you to chase units across the map lose you another minute easy. Cruci of dead would be 12:30 sec really.
You can use Albrecht reing too for a stronger Flame Torrent bu the benefits of lvl 19 Torment is too good. More on this in explanation part. You also get reliabe AoE rr whenever you cast Bone Harvest
How are you a Demigod?:
You have 20% CDR with gear+ Ulzuin pact. Adding Balgothian Relic you get another rough 10% CDR (it means more for some spells actually) and you get ~30% CDR.
[b]2x Torment = 2x 5.9 sec so 11.8 secs of nigh unkillable mode. Lvl 5 BB is exactly where it needs to be to integrate harmoniously into the cycle so in effect 11.8 sec+3 sec BB = 14.8 sec of demigod mode with 2.8 sec of vulnerability in between.
Just do this: Torment(Reap spirit for TD)>>>Torment Again>>>Blade Barrier…go away for ~2.8 seconds and just rinse and repeat:)
I highly recommend eternal band ring for this. Don’t look at it as just 0.2 sec gain. It’s 0.4 per cycle, 0.8 2x cycles etc. it really narrows down the period in which you are vulnerable throughout all of crucible.
Slow: -% slow unlike simple % slow affects bosses very well because it’s taken directly from their stats and stacks with itself. VoS+Ill Omen+Aether Corruption+Spectral Wrath all stack when affecting the stated speed type. Never forget to spam Omen&Corruption, it matters so much.[/b]
- Shadow Strike: With 30% total CDR and occasional Insta-CDR from Clairvoyant set proc make it reliable and is also damage can get bursty fast: Was done with Mortality Relic proc on so with Belgo you can take 40K out of that. Belgo is 100% worth it in case you have doubts.
Just curious, why do you favor the slow mechanic? Doesn’t work on bosses right? Because of that fact, I’ve tended to stay away from slow. Mabye there are good reasons to use though?
There are plenty of enemies besides the bosses in the crucible.
I think the reason he said that is because it’s relatively less efford and bigger uptime compared to other kinds of CC. Reaper has 25% from VoS and 30% from Ill Omen - pretty much a permanent 55% slow to everything that matters without any input besides casting Ill Omen once in a while.
Loved the gameplay video. Also, about time someone utilized that Eternal Band, it fits so nicely into the build. Couple of questions (more than a couple), as someone who is making good old Spellbreaker and never played Nightblade before:
Why are you not maxing Nightfall? Is it only good for Cold based Nightblade shadow strikers, or is it no good at all?
Amarasta’s Blade Burst - viable as a support damage skill to SS with soft cap, along with overcapped Lethal Assault? Often seing it at 5/16, although it gives 180% weapon damage at 16/16 (which is pretty decent given its low cooldown and aoe)
Shadow Dance - worth overcapping to 16/12 or only if we have spare points?
Are you using pants just to hard cap SS? Because it seems that good pair of greens would fit your build better given lack of pierce res (btw, you could change one augment from aether/chaos to pierce/chaos) and lack of stun res
Lastly, gratz on successful Crucible build. I did notice you were pressing Aether Corruption too much tho
Finally, here it is. This build, along with many others, really show the power of TD in crucible. TD + nukes or TD + dots is the best way to essily clear crucible right now.
Not Fluff but 1. Nightfall’s biggest asset is the dots, which can’t be converted to aether. Can’t comment on the others.
I don’t think hourglass needs a nerf right now. If previous versions if the game are any indication, I think TD won’t be as popular as it is today when crucible nerfs hit next patch. Of course that would depend on what nerfs will come. I do think that nerfing TD in particular will only stop non Aether builds from using it. Aether builds, particularly spellbinder will stillvwant to abuse CDR even if it’s just 1 second.
@ TZ - Yes it’s why I named him just “The” Otherwise it would have been “The Reaper Reaper”
About TD - The Chars that use it are usually the ones that really need it. I think that says a lot.
@Ptiro. Even if they would do a massive nerf like add 5 sec CD to TD at ultimate lvl, it wouldn’t affect this build since with CDR, a cycle of 2x torment+BB would be enough to have TD charged. The ones who would be greatly affected however are the ones who only have Mirror. So it’s hard to balance, if TD even needs a nerf which I don’t think is the problem. Nor do I think there is a general problem with CD. It’s just crucible 150+ that has imbalance for certain builds that suddenly struggle a lot more.
@Ptiro. Even if they would do a massive nerf like add 5 sec CD to TD at ultimate lvl, it wouldn’t affect this build since with CDR, a cycle of 2x torment+BB would be enough to have TD charged. The ones who would be greatly affected however are the ones who only have Mirror. So it’s hard to balance, if TD even needs a nerf which I don’t think is the problem. Nor do I think there is a general problem with CD. It’s just crucible 150+ that has imbalance for certain builds that suddenly struggle a lot more.
I was joking =) Unless you go nuts with CDR stacking TD is fine.
Crete gonna nerf it for sure =(