Putting the final touches on AoM before moving onto FG. I switched to veteran after Loghorrean. This build is still going butter smooth as before but hiccups regarding two bosses: I wasn’t able to beat Sharzul and phase 2 of Gargabol got me as well. Things will be going well with those skeleton key bosses and then all of a sudden I’m dead. I guess I’m either getting critted or RRed, maybe both, I don’t really know. Maybe I need to switch out offhand for a shield.
Any advice re: my build? My resists are in a good place; I’m trying to keep them in place while bumping armor rating up but new viable pieces are hard to come by. Usually if something outclasses my current gear in most aspects but tanks one of my resists, I’ll pass it up. I’m curious to know what I should put more emphasis on as I move into level 70+.
First thing i would do is farm for the boneblade and troll shield in Mountain Deeps. You would be surprised how potent those 2 are on this build while leveling. At least try it out and if you really dislike it then switch back to these items you’re using right now. The shield will also give your left ring (imperial signet) a little bit more purpose as the entire bit about shield damage blocked has no effect if youre not using a shield.
Other than that, you want to keep an eye on your elemental res, particularly the 2 lowest ones. For veteran most of your resistances look decent but elemental you want to get that up there and its not too hard to do with a little tweaking. If you can afford to go without the Ectoplasm in your amulet then id consider using a Wardstone, maybe in your Medal as well.
For now i would also re-spec the points in Shaman mastery that you invested beyond Oak Skin and dump them either into Wasting, Destruction, or Oak Skin. You can always re-spec later if you really dont want to keep that change, but often times it helps to invest in skills before pumping points into furthering the mastery bar, particularly if youre having trouble in a specific area or stuck at a specific point. This can also help level more efficiently, and then once you have enough points to reach the next skill youre shooting for on the mastery bar, re-spec all those points you dumped into other skill(s) to help you level, and pump them into the mastery bar and unlock the next skill you were working towards in one fell swoop, if that makes sense.
It is possible you may need those points invested in the mastery bar due to stat requirements on gear (IE; phys, cunning, or spirit requirements), so just keep that in mind before you change anything be sure to verify that doing this wont make any of the gear you need to use un-wearable.
Build is still working like a charm, I have been doing full playthroughs with just a few quick side-quests + hidden path (i really like that one ) and shrines of course. So i was lvl 64 when I finished FG on veteran. Switched to Elite immediately and did basically the same as on veteran.
Devotions are final, some crafting was done and i got my resistances for beginning ultimate pretty much sorted (no overcap yet).
I am now about to go through the void towards Malmouth. Lokarr’s is still with me and i will try to get up to lvl 94 with it until i can put on my final gear.
If anyone is interested: GT
Comments to the GT-link are always welcome.
BTW: Good that I have a mouse with two side-buttons. Since I like to not change keybindings completely and this build really needs a piano… I bound Pestilence of Dreeg skill and the mobility skill to those buttons, otherwise I stick to the numbers.
I would be interested in your keybindings as well @Nery and @Knife.
I would say that your healing from Sigil isn’t that strong now, getting Bonewall shield and a point in Destruction will help you. Also some of your gear needs replacement, starting with belt, also medal and right ring boosts only bleeding damage and their stats aren’t impressive. But Bonewall and maybe Bonebalde helps with that.
Also relic can be changed, there are different vitality relics that are better, like Mortality or Deathchill.
For going elite difficulty you need to work on resistances and proportionally to increase your DA/OA.
Your build looks mighty, well done!
I would try to use offensive augments on weapon/shield. Also you can upgrade your relic. This quest about the talisman is available in every difficulty level and relic have better stats. Or you can craft something up, at your level Impurity or Ancestor (debatable) are possibilities.
About skill bindings, I use left button for moving and right mouse for Devouring Swarm. Active skills are with keys usually 1-5. And movement skill is bound to "E’’.
Okay, so @Knife, I followed your advice and just a Boneblade and Bonewall slotted in, along with Mortality relic, like Nery suggested, and new helm. Also, respec’ed to add points to Destruction. I was just paying attention to the resist levels on the Normal toggle but I’m going to do what I think y’all are doing and leave it on Ultimate toggle. That way it’s clear to me that the elemental resist is weak, as is poison/acid and bleed. My spirit seems to be pretty low, too.
@Nery, I haven’t had time to address the drawbacks you noted yet, so first order of business is to do what you said and get a new belt and a new ring.
If I care most about getting resist and %OA/DA up right now, does that mean I should have OA/DA toggled in the fourth loot filter column? Right now I have it set on ‘My Masteries’ and ‘Resistances’
Also, @arbitorius, that build does look pretty sweet Maybe I’ll aim for a similar belt to yours
Thanks @CioCio, the belt has a regular version also Chthonian Thread Sash, which I found (no blueprint available) and used before I crafted the empowered version.
@Nery thank you for the input, I was gonna get the ultimate version of the talisman relic and see if that works for me, but the Mana Infusion is rarely in use, I only pop it for endbosses . Other options I found are Meditation or Solael’s Decimation, what do you think about those? My guess is, that they are not really worth the crafting materials, since I need a lot for the final equipment.
If you have Eldritch Pact relic blueprint, perhaps isn’t worth it. But both are good options. Meditation have great % vitality damage bonus. Solael is also fine but both are quite expensive to craft if you use them for placeholders only.
Is it okay to not be doing bleed dmg anymore? After getting rid of the ring, belt, and medal, I’ve got bleed multiplier going but no bleed base dmg. I figure it’s okay since I cast way more than I slash, but I thought bleed was one of the main compoments to this build, albeit secondary to vitality dmg of course.
EDIT: I just checked everyone’s GT at lvl 70 and don’t see any bleed dmg either, so maybe I was focusing too much on it.
Flat bleeding works only on skills with weapon damage, this build doesn’t have.
As for % bleeding, it boosts the damage of the spells. But our main offensive skill, Sigil don’t do bleeding. And Dark One set have nothing to do with bleed as well. So even if Conjurer is suitable class for bleeding, this is vitality build.
Okay, sorry to keep semi-spamming the topic with my builds today but since my strategy underwent a big shift thanks to @Nery cluing me in a little better to how the game works, here’s a basic readjustment after two levels. Today I also learned that the top row of resists is penalized more than the bottom row in elite/ultimate so I will weight them more heavily. Despite shifting back down to green gear mostly, I believe my build is now at a fundamentally better place.
Specifically much better armor, resists, spirit, and health regen. Cold, lightning, and bleed resists are the weak parts but I should hopefully be able to shore them up. Comparing to @arbitorius lvl 78 GT, I will also need to majorly raise OA/DA but hoepfully that’s what the next 10 levels are for.
And yes, @Knife and Nery were right, Boneblade and Bonewall are the way to go for me right now. In fact, I foresee some difficulty on knowing when to progress past them.
As always, comments/suggestions/advice are welcome. Beginning tomorrow I will hopefully play a little bit more and, like I said, not link to builds excessively
Hey @CioCio
Chains of Oleron in the chest armor, Voidbeast Powder augments (Black Legion) in weapon and shield and Survivor’s Ingenuity (Devil’s Crossing) in both rings and amulet would help you with OA/DA quite much .
Edit: I just compared our two GT links again and you are missing quite many Devotion points. Rattosh, the Lantern (only with caster gear though) and Dying God give a big chunk of OA and a little DA. So maybe you should focus on finding more devotion shrines. You could use the checklist in Grimtools for that.
So the big patch just hit, GrimTools is not updated yet, so the old values are still there. And since I can’t put on the Dark One’s set yet, I can’t see the impact of this:
Dark One’s Gift Set: reduced % damage on the skill proc
Dark One’s Grasp: reduced % Damage Reduction modifier for Bloody Pox to 12% / 2s
Dark One’s Hood: reduced % Damage Reduction modifier for Wendigo Totem to 12% / 2s
@Nery any info how much the damage on the skill proc is now? It used to be 250%.
Regarding devotions, Yep, I’ve been checking GT to make sure I get them. I’m still going through FG so I’ve got those to get but you did emphasize for me that I can probably go ahead and respec some of the older devotions into Rattosh, Lantern, etc.
I haven’t check it yet but considering big % damage this build can have, it will not affect the performance much.
Also some of MI items were slightly buffed, including the weapon, shield and medal. So that’s all good changes. Also Bonespike boost Devouring Swarm, making it even more appealing.
Nice advises to @CioCio build, you beat me to the punch with augments/devotions suggestions
About resistances, top row is reduced by -25% elite, all resistances are decreased by another -25% on ultimate.
GrimTools is updated to 1.1.7.0 and the skill proc of Dark One’s set is now 150%, just for everyones information.
I don’t think it will kill the build but maybe change some gear, but it’s anyway always changing, right?
Personal update: I just finished FG on elite at lvl 87 and the last part of the journey begins (payed my toll in 3 deaths to Korvaak because he could one-hit me, thanks to Lokarr’s ).
@Nery your suggestions to switch from normal to elite at 65 and to ultimate at 85 are really accurate, I used a few potions of clarity though, that’s why I am a little higher now.
Hey @Nery,
Thank you for this great build and guide! I’ve been rocking it as my main character (mostly SSF) due to how tanky it is without much gear.
I’m currently level 85, about to transition into Ultimate after finishing FG Elite (skipped part of AoM elite).
Here’s my GT. Would you have any recommendations for improvements (either skill point allocation or gear/augments) before Ultimate?
Currently have had 0 deaths on this character (definitely HC viable so far), only close call was Rashalga on Elite (mostly because I wasn’t prepared haha).
Rashalga is dangerous foe, especially in Ultimate have nasty retal aura.
I also leveled SSF (solo self found?). And zero deaths so far are tribute not only to the build but to your play as well.
For your build I still prefer Boneblade/Bonespike weapon. Sigil mod is nice though, I will admit.
At this point I will try to fit more gear with vitality % damage boost and try to cover resistances with components/augments. Gloves are main culprit here, low level, no % damage or stats. For medal you can farm in the future Rylok one for huge Sigil damage boost. Belt is OK, but at level 94, you need to change it. Your left ring needs updating, you can craft few with blacksmith for example. Also pants are kinda bad. They don’t give damage, DA or OA. Only perk are the resistances. Maybe do the hidden path quest to get Solael guardain pants.
Survivor Ingenuity are better than your current jewels augments. Check if your Devil’s Crossing rep is maxed. But extra OA/DA will make your build better. Also +20% all damage includes vitality and decay.
I would use Scaled Hide in shoulders, Chains of Oleron or other component in chest and Bone in head. Or Bone/Kilrian soul in chest and Prismatic Diamond in head slot. Also I would use Mark of Illusion if I can cap my vitality res. DA and spirit are nice. Although Soul Shard is also not bad component for this build.
Since your OA is low, you can go 16/16 Blood of Dreeg next.
Thanks for the advice on the equipment. I’ll definitely get my Devil Crossing rep maxed out for that nice augment and farm the MIs you suggested.
A couple quick additional questions:
As I get closer to level 94, I’m guessing I should be prioritizing vit% damage boosts as well as OA/DA boosts for gear?
How much resist overcap should I aim for on my resistances to be a little safer from the -RR% debuffs? Or is it just fine to just hit the cap?
Any suggestions on the belt?
Regarding this part:
I tend to do Sigil stacking on either bosses/totems/shrines, which is probably why I stuck with the Scepter MI a bit more. Is the -RR% from the Bone MI considerably better?
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Maybe I’ll aim for a similar belt to yours
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