[1.1.0.1] << C.H.I.L.L. >> ABB/OFF Cold/F-burn Spellbreaker (Crucible 7:18)

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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UPDATE GT FOR 1.1.4.1: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/d2j83OnZ


(all permabuffs buffs on, well- but not top-rolled gear)

EDIT: Thanks to advice from the veterans Mad_Lee and Ptirodaktil this build does ~7:00 now quite consistently in this new setup.

GT (original version)

YT (3b/vb: 7:18)

Welcome to what’s probably gonna be the last AoE build posted in these forums: Cold/Frostburn Amarasta’s Blade Burst Spellbreaker topped OFF with Olexra’s Flash Freeze.

INTRODUCTION:

ABB/LA line is taken by just about every cold and acid nightblade who knows what he’s doing. But ABB itself has always been overlooked as a one-pointer to carry Lethal Assault’s buffs. That is until 7.1 came with the new Venomblade (courtesy of thejabrixone) - one of the best acid/poison builds there is - where ABB is actually the main source of dmg. Which makes one wonder, can full ABB be used on a cold build? Let’s find out.

Pros:
-fun with OFF
-few buttons + no need to press ABB
-decent dmg and semi-decent defense
-monstrous oa+crit dmg and nice dmg spikes make you feel badass

Cons:
-Kubacabra=death
-unexpected dmg drops
-too little rr

GEAR:

The build uses the combo of full Mageslayer set (just like our retired now N&O variant (courtesy of Jägermeister)) and the weapons called Olexra’s Chill. These are core. The rest is tweakable - but it’s the best combo that I managed to find. Fixing resistances was quite demanding on this.

Some suggestions for tweakers: Iskandra relic (but I found +1 to Nightblade is better than Iskandra’s buffs), full Silver Sentinel set if to give up on OFF, boots and pants in different combinations (I found this is best, though, after trying out many different setups).

HOW THIS WORKS:

OFFENCE:

Main dmg source is cold ABB and stacking frostburn from multiple sources (mainly ABB, Tsunami, Absolute Zero, Veil of Shadows mod, Overload would be nice but no points). Autoattack is a very minor addition to total dmg output so 115% attack speed and 19% slow res is passable.

Yes, there is no Ultos. I tried it and came to conclusion that Tsunami+Viper is better for this one. The reason is both ABB and Blade Spirits suck at proccing Ultos. I’d have to use Beronath Shard which wouldn’t make sense with this attack speed and it would make ABB on a separate button jam too much. The new Tsunami is pretty good, however, adding 30% wd and nice flat to almost every ABB. The only thing is it’s silly forcewavy AoE shape.

DEFENCE:

For defense we got not too bad armor (for a caster) thanks to the new Bloody Crystals and Malmouth Redemption weapon augments, not to be disregarded dmg reduction from both Alkamos rings (and Stormtitans to fill the holes in uptime), a bit measly da (that’s how I like to play but feel free to put on some Ravager Eyes; I noticed, however, that with any less offense consistency actually drops and significantly).

I’m not really mentioning Mirror as due to point starvation I had to demote it to a one-pointer. Still, once a wave, it’s useful. Same with Nullification.

SO WHAT ABOUT OFF?

Even after many hours of testing this I don’t feel qualified to pass any definite judgements. It’s performance varies for unknown reasons. I’ve seen it freeze Kubacabra for a full second during one run, on another just color him for a fraction of a second, and not even touch him during the next run. Maybe someone else can solve this mystery. EDIT: Mystery solved. It’s the mutators. :smiley:

As for everything below boss status (except Ugdenbog golem family and heroes with Chilled or Frozen affix) it works beautifully freezing them for a good couple of seconds.

CONCLUSION:

It’s not a Venomblade but it holds its own with relatively fast mid-tier clear times and average consistency (in Nerf Dawn 1.1). Gameplay is fun and demands much focus. Some repositioning/kiting is needed sometimes. Kubacabra is a nightmare even one-on-one due to relatively small rr (and him being pissed about getting his ass kicked by N&O in the last patch). Honestly, for a consistent Crucible farmer for low-to-average piloting skills I would recommend other builds but for main game it’s superfun. If you’re looking for some freeze action this is it.

FEEDBACK FOR MR Z

In general I find Mageslayer set to be a nice mid-tier solution for dusting off OFF, and it includes the very best amulet (imo) for all cold nightblades, but please don’t nerf. On the contrary, this is what I propose:

  • slight buff to freeze rr (5% would be great)
  • 2/4% cdr on the helmet
  • +2 to Overload and some other skill (maybe Circle of Slaughter or Nightfall?) on the amulet
  • maybe some attack speed on the gloves after all? 6/8%? Please…?

Now, Olexra’s weapon. This weapon could really use a buff. The mod to ABB hardly makes up for the fact it’s a caster weapon with ~75 base flat. No speed of any kind. No proc. Mods are a sad cold shadow of Venomblade’s glory. But has a lot of potential due to pretty high %cold and the oa+crit dmg combo is always good. This is what I would do to make it better:

  • carefully add some cdr, 2/4% max
    OR
  • add a -10% cold rr proc like Crescent Moon

Thanks for reading and all comments welcome. Because I haven’t had time to theorycraft FG much I’d really like some feedback as to what could change once the expansion drops.

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Funny I was just thinking about posting my mageslayer magehunter…

+1 nice build. Although you might be better served by belgo relic for more flash freezes.

As to your point about freeze duration… there are mutators that increase or decrease freeze resist. They can either make the build OP for a run or nearly cripple it.

3

Finally another ABB build.
I thought it’s only me who explored ABB.

Congrats for the build, looks really interesting. Also interesting that you take tsunami + hungering void. You may want to bound elemental storm to blade spirit and blizzard to RoS though. I havent seen your full devo map because I am in Mobile.

What’s really lacking on cold ABB is no range mod, no WD mod, and no acid>cold mod. That’s why for a pure ABB build, acid will always be better.

One thing worth to explore is rimetongue set and one pointer blade trap line. I made one cold ranged ABB infiltrator with it but haven’t polished it again.

4

I. Love. ABB.

Gratz on making it work!

Have you considered ugdenbog rifle + vileblade set?

Reduces ABB to 0.7 cd. :rolleyes:

EDIT: I don’t think olxera weapons need a buff. I think ABB as a skill needs to be buffed. Would love to see a transmuter on it similar to that of stunjacks (except that the damage reduction wouldn’t be as great).

5

Another cool build from the master! Congrat

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Thx. I’ve tested Belgo and offense is similar but defense suffers. Da is short on this one.

I usually test procs on dummies so in a crowd Blade Spirits might indeed be better for the Storm. But versus single target I’ll take 1 sure Storm per 3s procced immediately from BoS than “maybe procs and maybe doesn’t” from BS. My rr philosophy is “the sooner the better.”

And Blizzard is on crit so if BoS misses it’s another 3s without Blizzard. I didn’t actually count but I think I was seeing most Blizzards from Spirits (I tried RoS and ABB when testing other devos). I’d be grateful if someone actually tested it properly.

Yes. And also double rr. This is probably the weakest link of this build - low rr. I managed 7:20 here but if Kuba with his 98% cold res pops up more than twice it’s automatically 8 minutes. If lucky not to die. BTW was Kuba buffed?

Thank you. That’s a question to thejabrixone. Me, I’m not sure dropping venomblade weapons for that rifle is viable on a witchhunter.

7

Nice build, added to my thread. :wink:

8

Congrats on build,love spellbreaker class and also usage of OFF.Most of my builds are cold,so I know how hard Kuba can be.For Ultos in Crucible,tested blade spirits with some char and they are ok procers.

9

Spellbreaker is always be my favourite class. Good job with Mageslayer. Maybe if you shift your focus from dual-wielding Olexra’s and take one Crescent Moon instead you will have easier times against kuba. I would also take Band of Eternal Haunt plus Reign of Ice and Fire and drop Tsunami for Sailor’s.

Another feedback for mr. Z: Make ABB hit with both hands!

10

I like your suggestions but you need to post them in ideas/feedback section if you really hope for him to notice it. This section of the forum are so full of comments unrelated to feedback they don’t have time to peruse all of it afaik. Please suggest these things in ideas and feedback to make sure it is at least considered.

11

Look nice, but lack of lethal assault make me sad . Aslo, you should do more dmg with this point distribution :
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/p25y9Ey2

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DW Ranged ABB hit with both hands!
Well, it somewhat balancing because range flat is not as big as melee flat.

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@ Mad_Lee

I agree that Haunt is more often than not the best deal for breakers due to lack of rr. But I decided on Alkamoses mostly for dmg reduction and more relevant skill bonuses.

@Ptiro

True, I should’ve maxed Night’s Chill as rr is the main issue here. But a fancy took me to max OFF line :rolleyes: I humbly disagree on dropping Elemental Balance for Dual Blades, though. Phys res is nice but pricey here and 35-ish conversion gives less than two flat per point… The way I figure this build is carried by damage spikes from crits.

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You loose only 20% crit dmg.
Just check the math =)
With your OA you have around 25% crit chance against nemesis w/o a banner.
Mean you gain 1.76 multiplier once per 4 hits ,resulting in average ~19% more dmg from your crits not counting frostburn.
If you drop %crit dmg to 35% you gain 1.55 multiplier once per 4 hits, resulting in average ~ 13% more dmg from you crits, not counting frostburn.

It scale so bad, that you dont want to waste 12 points intro EB if you dont focus on DoT, cause DoT gain direct multiplier instead of average. :eek:

15

Alright then… 10 points worth of 21% crit dmg and 100% frostburn moved to DB (15/16) give me ~13 flat and 30% cold - just about what Malmouth Redemption augment got. Now, have you seen an augment giving 21% crit dmg?

(Oh, the last four ranks you bought for FG points so it’s another 4 points from somewhere for extra 7-8 cold.)

I don’t look at spreadsheets much. They don’t take too many factors into account. Simple thinking: 20 crit is better than 13 flat on a build with high oa and rather low wd output per second. Even with 5% phys res that flat is not worth it, imo, unless you also use Silver Sentinel or Deathmarked and Hagarrad gloves, stack attack speed, use aa replacer, max Execution, etc.

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Thanks Mad_Lee and Ptiro.

I updated op with a new better setup incorporating your advice. It’s a pretty strong spellbreaker now.

17

I would still siphon points from OFF into somewhere else, like PB + Transmuter or/and Anatomy of Murder or/and couple of points into Execution/Whirling Death to cap proc chance, or even Circle Slaughter to make it safer.

Lack of Sailor’s Guide in devotion map triggers my OCD greatly as well :slight_smile:

18

And kill most of the OFF fun? Yeah, that would be the right choice optimization-wise but hey! “Crucible is not the main game!” Or something… :rolleyes:

I feel the same way. All my previous devo setups had it. But I ended up with this one where 1 extra point and pierce res from switching to Eel was needed. Slow res is not that crucial here.

I found Tsunami to be pretty good as a cheap Ultos replacement and this is the only way to keep it and all the other essentials. It’s like 30% weapon damage and quite decent flat to every ABB (just the AoE shape sucks).

19

A 7:00 Crucible time makes for a pretty tough case to buff this set. :stuck_out_tongue: