[1.0.7.1] DW Ranged Physical Cadence Tactician (no greens)

I agree, after a bit of testing, it is fine for campaign as it is, but in the crucible it feels like it lacks a bit both damage-wise and tankyness, but mostly the damage. And now even a bunch of my items with flat phys got nerfed. :stuck_out_tongue:

So this was actually the first build I ever followed and got mostly completed (it took me a long long time to craft that medal to satisfaction) though not my first character - my Witch Hunter took forever to level up).

But a couple of days ago I got the hankering to revisit Magnus and see where some of those new devotions might lead.

Lo and behold, several others are already starting on it!

After reading some of the updated ideas and threads hereā€™s what Iā€™ve settled on for a while.

Magnus - Inquisitor, Patron Saint of Soldiers

I didnā€™t go with Warborn (only pieces of that I have are on my Death Knight right now. :D)
Iā€™m rethinking the rings but havenā€™t gone anywhere with it. Possibly a second Black Matriarch? Bladetwister Signet might now work well for me as almost all of my pierce damage is already converted to physical and that would pull some away. A second Black Matriarch would give me that extra -10 Phy reduction though.

Edit: Forgot the Bloodied Crystal on the Black Matriarch ring in Grimtools.

Thoughts?

My latest iteration of this build looks like this: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/wV1bAazZ. Have you seen this one? The +5 medal I have is interchangable with the one you have if you redistribute the points from Word of Renewal to Cadence.

Double Black Matriarch RR doesnā€™t stack, you would only increase its chance to proc it. Coven Storm Seal is probably the way to go here, but you can try Bladetwister Signet for RR or Blackwatch Seal for flat piercing (converted to physical).

You should also try to overcap Aether Resistance to atleast +25-ish% and put a couple more points in Scars of Battle for stun resistance.

My first character is a Tactician and I have a build very similar to yours. Iā€™m missing a couple items, but the only item that is completely different is the Relic, where I use Serenity for now.

How do you fare in the endgame? Iā€™m having an impossible time passing SR 60 and can only just solo Morgoneth, which means sometimes dying depending on healing etc.

Iā€™d advise you to drop Octaviusā€™s set in favor of Warborn. As an autoattacker, you just donā€™t have enough elemental damage to dedicate 3 slots to converting it. Warborn frees up a bunch of skill points so you can swap your amulet, gives you perma-war cry, and frees up a component slot all at the same time. If you want to use converted elemental damage, try speccing into runes instead of Cadence.

This build cruises neatly through SR 65-66. Itā€™s not super fast, but itā€™s incredibly consistent.

I like this, but I think with this setup chilling rounds and even storm spread can be a dps loss. Other than that, it is maybe worth to farm for a good Rylok crest?

Itā€™s a tossup; fighting form isnā€™t as big a deal on ranged Cadence as melee, so you donā€™t need to cap it. That being said, a really well-rolled rylok crest would be better in terms of shoring up resists, but Kalstorā€™s mark is almost as good and easier to get. Depends on how much effort you want to put into the build.

Iā€™m still in the process of testing the results of WPS on DPS. Need to figure out if they charge Cadence quicker like melee WPS do.

Yes I donā€™t know whether the proc attacks help to charge up faster the cadence hits, all I remember when I played this, that the storm spread barely did any damage to normal mobs and it seemed to slow down attacks a bit. :slight_smile: I still have this character but I used the equipmnet on other chars so it is kinda abandoned, but maybe I will return to it

Btw I theorycrafted something similar but as a Warlord with dual deathdealerā€™s, I have no clue how this would perform, but looks similarly good on paper. https://www.grimtools.com/calc/pZrJw06Z

Iā€™ve actually tried a very similar spec, just with Mandate instead of Oleronā€™s Rage. Theyā€™re pretty similar in performance and durability, the big hampering point being no AoE to speak of. Tactician has more flat and OA, Warlord has better RR and crit damage.

Thatā€™s why I picked Oleron devotion, because one of the main issues is with ranged Cadence, when crap mobs surround you you have a harder time clearing them, compared to fire strike for example which is the main ranged attack skilll in the game, but as I said, I donā€™t know how good blind fury is in this setup.

Thanks, Iā€™ll give it a go! The non-stop War Cry actually seems amazing, and that alone should make up for anything else.

I also really like the max resistance going up across the board :slight_smile:

1 Like

One more thing. Why is it better to use that Coven Storm Seal vs using 2x Matriarch rings? Is +2 Field Command better than +2 Cadence?

One thing I learned about this game is that by endgame itā€™s OA, DA, resistance and defense over more damage.

This means more survivability from more levels in FC is more beneficial than more damage from more levels in Cadence.

That said, if you limit yourself to specific type of endgame content and can survive on the other way around (getting +2 Cadence instead of +2 FC) then why not.

The real important thing is to get a total of +10 to hardcap Cadence, which this build has. The reason everyone takes Black Matriarch isnā€™t for Cadence, itā€™s the 10% phys RR; the only other rings that offer that have shit for defenses, bad skill bonuses, and can mess with conversions. Since 2x of the same debuff wonā€™t stack, your other ring generally shores up defenses, like Menhirian, Storm Seal, or even Belgoā€™s Sigil. All of them provide resists that soldier lacks and have great stat density in other regards.

This build isnā€™t really point-starved, since you have surplus points in Markovianā€™s Advantage, Field Command, or Arcane Empowerment. People just dump extra points in FC since itā€™s a good all-arounder (and it makes the numbers get bigger).

Hereā€™s a marginally updated spec that gets a little extra performance by ditching the inquisitor WPS.

Sorry for the noob questions, but am I understanding it correctly that by +10 hardcap you mean that after you gain +10 skills over the max there is no benefit to any skills? So getting 27 Cadence gives 0 benefit over 26?
Is that only for Cadence, or for all skills?

I noticed that you put extra points into Veterancy. Is that because health regen is very important? Or would it be better to put extra points into Scars of Battle for the reduced stun + freeze (and the armor absorb)

No worries; all skills have a hard limit of +10 over cap, at which point you canā€™t put any more points in. So getting close to +10 to your main attack is generally important, bu more than that isnā€™t really a priority.

Health regeneration is actually a terrible defensive stat; the draw of veterancy is the reduced physique requirement for gear (in this case, pants and chest). All those points saved on physique can go straight to cunning. Because tactician has fantastic crit damage for a physical build, OA is very valuable, and cunning also gives a nice physical damage boost. Scars of battle is a one-pointer because it gets armor absorb to 100%. Youā€™re tanky enough that CC isnā€™t really a big deal, so no need for more points.

Aha, I had no clue about either of those.

This is my character so far: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/m23q9B9Z
I need to upgrade that medal, but skill wise thatā€™s my current build. Iā€™ll give yours a try tonight when I get a chance to play.

Lastly: Would adding more points into Military Conditioning then be better than adding to Veterancy? Since it also gives HP

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out.

I think the idea of droping octavious + dustbrawler shoulder really depend on how you set up your skills and devotion route. Here is my Tactician by now (yeah, the Rylok medal at level 85 cuz i cant find better medal at higher level, and dont even have a single rare affix, just love it): https://www.grimtools.com/calc/D2pbP9LZ
The reason for chosing Elemental convert to Physical not only because the WPS and Arcanempower (which is a lot, flat 29 dam), but also by taking devotion rout you get 10 more from Scrab, 6-10 more from Lightā€™s Empyryon, and the proc skill of Empyryon is just so nice to get. Already 24% dam reduction (dont need from Warcry) and bonus to Chthonic race is awesome. I have test Warborn before this set up, and the DPS lower than about 10% even when my cadence skill stop at 24. And btw, i think Aura of Conviction is way better than Oleron. 40 flat physical (due to convert)+ 182 OA + 16% physical res/ vs 12% OA + 135% physical dam (the internal trauma flat is nothing, cuz 95% dam from cadence is physical, not internal trauma)