INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to yet another binder write-up. This is a complete revamp of my previous Aether Pannetti build and to my surprise it turned out to be equally fast but somewhat safer.
This version is sadly a g5. It does require a stalwart prefix on the medal. The others it can do without. In my defense, I tried to keep rare affixes at the minimum (only one).
Stats are higher in game. Especially armor (2000+).
This result is kind of a fluke. It usually takes me 10-20 seconds longer. Nemeses in 170 positioned themselves perfectly for a fast clear. For an expert pilot who can pull off things like that at will the results might be even better. Also, the mutators were a little hard on the defense in this run.
CONCEPT and GAMEPLAY:
This is a classic take on a devastation spellbinder with a spam skill as support (or the other way, semantics…) and damage absorption spells for defense. Nothing new, nothing original. This particular setup turned out to be the fastest but I have tested a multitude of others (some links below).
This build as all spellbinders these days except Agrivix is very hard to pilot. Very little defense and not much in terms of sustain as well as no access to cdr through Star Pact make it vital to make best use possible of Mirror and Mark of Torment (gotta max it now, classic 6/10 gets burst by Reaper with ease these days) as well as healing pots and Nullification.
GEAR:
The core of the build is Slathasarr Crest which provides complete conversion to PRM. This sadly makes this setup a g5 as da affixes are needed.
Krieg set is the best (and only) aether set that leaves both weapon and the helmet slot and still remains functional.
Wrath of the Ascendant is by far the best weapon for all kinds of aether spam. Decree of Aldrich is imo not competitive here as its fire to aether conversion to devastation is de-prioritized by Cord of Violent Decay and the recents nerfs made the proc even less worthwhile. The only argument would be the extra cdr.
Conduit. I tried to get rid of it because it’s simply bad. Agrivix amulet would be BiS here if it wasn’t for the resistances. Conduits provide 80-100% worth of resistances and all of it is needed in this setup.
Off-hand. Currently aether lacks exceptionally good non-set off-hands. This turned out to give fastest results. Any affixes with +%aether damage are good here.
Outcast Secret. It makes it more of a Devastation build than PRM but using Anasteria helmet gives better results so why not use it? Spellgaze is a viable alternative.
Rings. Eternal Haunt with Albrecht is BiS. I was testing Screams of the Aether and forgot to replace it.
ALTERNATIVE SETUPS:
No-green setup. Much slower and still hard to assemble due to Anasteria helmet and the conduit. Anasteria helmet could be replaced by Spellgaze as below. But it’s far from top-tier this way.
Safer one-green setup. A good alternative for more PRM and less Devastation. Also, skill disruption resistance from the off-hand proves invaluable sometimes. Hard to get below 7 minutes on the clear time, though.
One-green main campaign Clairvoyant setup. Spam casts in main game require more energy sustain thus had to drop Krieg to get those gloves and use Bone Harvest as Dying God proccer for better energy leech.
A FEW TRICKS FOR BETTER CRUCIBLE CLEARS:
Double Reapers. By courtesy of Omnitrio I’ve learned a nice little trick for double Reapers. Frankly, without it the build is hardly viable. When you see Reapers run to the space between the banner and the pillar next to it and keep sidestepping within that space until you see at least one of the Reapers locked down in his retarded dance. Works for Kuba too.
Nullification. Is now a part of the binder’s chain. Make sure you have it ready when nemeses reach half health for both offensive and defensive debuffing. Use it generously. Especially on the trio and aetherial caster bosses. It saves your life no worse than mirror.
Use Grim Internals. Not only does save you the frustration of loading crucible many times for the desired stage but the extra information on screen is very valuable.
