[1.1.5.2] What to do with shields? Throw them! Virtue+Blazeseer CDR Shield Aegis Caster Templar

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  • Mastering the shield throw

Introduction

Shields and Aegis of Menhir builds in particular were very good in early FG patches but quickly fall of the meta. And Virtue set was heavily nerfed rendering what was unkillable Shieldbreakers and Paladins into below average specs. So it’s not really worth it to go Aegis heavy but to balance it out. My build still uses Aegis skill but it’s not shielded tank but CDR caster using multiple fire spells to stack burning effects and deal damage. Also this is skateboard build with two movement skills. And little bit of glass cannon. Glass shield build? Is this a thing? :thinking:

Build

  • pic with permanent buffs and Ascension, DPS for Stromfire

Virtue%20Aegis

  • Aegis damage sheet

GRIM TOOLS :arrow_right: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/Q2zl74aZ

Gear:

Virtue is rare 5 pieces set, which mean it’s hard to combine it with other sets but Blazeseer is 3 part blue set that gives nice fire damage boos and proc, so decided to mix them together. Also are used:

  • Weapon: Blazeheart gives massive damage boost to Aegis and +1 OK skills.

  • Pants: Tranquil mind provides spirit, OA and slow resistance, very good item. And don’t forget bonus to Inner Focus.

  • Boots: Grey Magi are for spirit, DA and also nice trap+physical resistance proc. Prove that you are Magi and not lame shield build.

  • Ring: Other than Blazeseer decided to pick Combustion Band for -RR proc.

  • Relic is Eternity. CDR proc helps with Ascension up time mostly and it’s surprisingly nice fit here. Option is Iskandra relic.

Devotions&Attributes:

Decided to take both Torch and Magi(we’re magis after all) decotions and their procs. Also Elemental storm for flat RR. Ghoul+Bat is standard defensive combo. Bat it’s extra potent with the vitality conversion.

Last 3 devotion points are free for personal taste. Idea is to take Behemoth to the proc and assign it to Resilence. First three nodes of Wendigo are also fine for cast speed, physical res and health.

I wanted to do big spirit dump but it’s hard on heavy armor. So moderate spirit investment. All crafted items are with physique to allow more spirit. And in general Inner focus+Star Pact are the major reasons to select Arcanist mastery.

Performance

Build it’s decent defensively but not that good. You need to keep Ascension all time and time Mirror. Move away with Vire’s Might. Passive defenses are usually enough to keep you out of trouble. In SR though build is going to have troubles past 65-70 shard range.

In Crucible success rate is good, probably 7 or 8 out of 9 successful tries. Times vary a lot and this build is fairly prone to be slow if you meet Maiden combined with monsters being resistant to fire. So time can be from 6:10 to 7:10. I have lucky run with perfect mutators of 6:02!

Video:

8 Likes

Cool looking build. Gotta get 2 more points in Star Pact for that CDR though. Also is 18/12 in Avenging Shield for the extra target not worth it?

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Thanks!

I was thinking about more points in avenging shield but Aegis it’s not that good and avenging shield it’s not doing direct damage and I am already tight on skill points so don’t think it’s worth it. But on classical Virtue build with different belt and medal it’s totally sound idea to go for it.

Nice touch with Eternity! Also, that’s a pretty fast Templar. Any way to cap walking speed and Aegis on this one?

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Thanks!

Walking speed is irritating but fortunately movement skills can compensate for that.

Cool build, though I wonder: why Star Pact over Divine Mandate? It just seems weird to only be taking Star Pact for cooldown reduction.

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Star Pact is the main reason I took Arcanist class as support mastery. CDR works great on builds with cool down on their main offensive skill.

If you want Mandate I guess it’s best to take Demolitionist mastery.

Paladin is perhaps the sturdiest option, but there Censure is mandatory over Mandate.

The proc on the relic specifies that it requires a caster off-hand.
So, does it even work?

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Oops I made a blunder, thanks for noticing. I am so used to put it on casters :sweat_smile:

So better take Iskandra then. Proc is useful.

Hey. I have a Aegis Paladin, but now i am very interested in Aegis Templar instead. I dont use Word of Renewal or Inquisitor Seal per se. Too lazy.
One important and urgent question:
Why you dont play with Olexra’s Flesh Freeze? -100% Fire RR. 16 ! m radius. CD is good, but 4.5 sec duration is quite meh.
No points left?
I have to decide if i want to have a “better” Aegis build with Templar instead of Paladin.

Sorry, got i wrong i think, i currently reading that OFF from Arcanist does only work if the freezing is applied, and that will not work on bosses. Thats the end of my Aegis Templar adventure.

Edit: even with Mageslayer set it would be to short of RR duration for me.

Olexra is nice skill with Mageslayer set, so you can use it, it’s very fun to freeze mobs.

But outside of - freeze RR from set or early game is meh.