Deathmarked entering the Crucible once again. It’s been a while.
It’s time for cold DW melee, folks!
No matter how badly you’d want to be creative with it, there is just not enough viable items in stock to choose from: Chillheart, Korba and Deathmarked. There are million and one builds with Chillheart so we’ll go and mix Korba and Deathmarked, that’s how far creativity will take us.
I know people consider DM set to be overnerfed. But recent changes to cold-friendly devotions, buffs to blue items and some meta-switches have put this set back into the game.
The Build
dps is in Savagery
1.1.6.2 Update
The Trickster build changed a bit shifting focus to Nightfall. Blademaster build stayed the same (the version with Gragoyle or Spellbreaker belt that is, Chains of Anguish is worse than no belt now).
Crucible times went up a bit, SR performance didn’t change.
First stop is Trickster. It has smth new and it is faster after all.
The concept is simple: with Korba helm we get full bonus from Savagery and Stormcaller’s Pact which results in a very high melee dmg output.
Of course, full DM set is also a viable option. But in terms of Crucible and SR chunks clear you have to keep in mind that our cold RR is already very high. Casting the Reaper’s Mark on anything but the bosses will likely slow you down. And 25% pierce conversion from full set is no match for +1 skills to Nightblade and lightning conversion for AA. You can see that this +1 allows us to max two crucial skills - Nightfall and Lethal Assault.
Gear
The cornerstone of the build’s performance is not rare Alkamos rings. And not the busted blue belt. It’s the medal. +2 m radius to the aura and bonus dmg to it, combined with bonus dmg from the gloves and our huge RR, clears weaker most mobs without touching them.
Alkamos rings can be blue, it’ll be only slightly slower because +5% OA from the blues is pretty big for all the crit and frostburn dmg we have. And we already have dmg reduction from the Yugol proc.
Chains of Anguish is BiS here due to high leech. Single rare Gargoyle belt has similar performance due to vitality conversion for Nightfall but less consistency (for now, until the blue belt is nerfed/fixed).
Kuba pants are BiS, of course, it’s +skills can’t be matched by anything and it’ll be silly to try and build a non-green version. Even double magic roll will work (look for ele res). I chose a mid-tier version for the build.
@Plasmodermic had a suggestion to use Belgo relic but i didn’t try it, although it might be faster. Nidalla is more reliable source of dmg so i kept it.
Devotions
I’ve settled on Yugol+Ultos+Amatok map for cold long before the Yugol buff and now it’s simply the best you can do for melee, in my opinion.
There is still some wiggle room to get more adcth from Bat or Revenant (i advice to take the latter for SR because we have no source of reduced RR outside of Crucible).
The bindings were tested intensively, watching replays with GI debuff icons turned on. On paper binding Rumor to SS and Blizzard to Savagery sounds like a great idea.
In reality SS+Nightfall doesn’t give consistent single target proc for some reason (and it should because it’s a 94% chance, maybe it’s my fps issues). And even though our SS cooldown is only 2 seconds binding Rumor to Savagery gives more consistent procs. Blade Spirits are worse for Blizzard than autoattack but what you gonna do.
I also suggest to try the Ultos proc. The dmg is still ok without lightning conversion, certainly worth 1 point, and it sometimes applies %RR to the enemies you haven’t touched yet. I couldn’t test its viability because it kills my remaining fps.
Performance
Update:
Finally bought new PC so here is a 4:06 run:
Crucible is 5:20 on average, very mutator-dependant. 4:50 run:
This is a 1lvl2+3lvl1 beacons + 3 buffs run - 2 tributes short from being sustainable with 3 runs. You can complete wave 1-10 once in a while to compensate the loss (takes up about 1.5 mins).
Due to fps issues i cannot provide the best possible result right now. Off camera best was 4:43. There was a ~4:30 attempt (with a single rare green belt btw) but i made a stupid mistake of greed and died.
Update:
Plasmodermic strikes again, with a 4:34 run:
With a build around the green belt, proving that the concept performs well without Chains of Anguish:
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/YZe4RjrV
Shattered realm is, of course, farmable at 75-76. I’ve recorded a speedrun with a slower Blademaster so stay tuned for that.
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Blademaster build
1.1.6.2 Update
Classic Deathmarked BM, as old as this world. Nothing really new except the buffed items and, again, the medal.
<<< GRIMTOOLS >>>
dps is in Cadence
BM has lower sheet dps and lower RR but it actually clears a little faster in melee thanks to WPS pushing Cadence to more frequent discharge strikes.
As you can see, neither build took War Cry. It’s a decent source to make you more buff for the hardest encounters. But it requires 11 points investing and an additional button. And we have no CDR. It felt unreliable and not benificial to the build.
Update:
4:40 run on a new PC:
Crucible - 5:06 run:
Again, 1lvl2+3lvl1 beacons + 3 buffs run
Update: 5:01 Crucible run without the bugged belt (Spellbreaker insted):
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/pZrWMQON
Almost nothing is changed for the clarity of the experiment.
Lower clear times come from inability to max out Nightfall and NJE. And in here we really can’t take some +skills helm. The sacrifice of Reaper’s Mark on a single RR class is unwarranted.
That said, it ended up to be a pretty sturdy char with a potential of sub 5 min run. Considering the current state of the Cadence it’s pretty good.
SR75-76 run:
As always, the live builds replicate capabilities of a legit player with endgame experience: reasonable amount (5-6) of copies of blue/purple items at hand, single copy of each Alkamos ring, single copy of the relic with the desired craft, single rare copy of a farmable MI. 80%+ consistency for the build when played safely.
I’ve tested other classes with the set over the past months. Infiltrator showed good results. But we already have a fast cold Infiltrator with Morgo set so i went for smth different.
Feedback
I don’t think that DM and Morgo set are overpowered. They still require careful piloting when built for dmg.
Fast clearing happens primarily for two reasons: 1) High dmg from high AoE aura allows to skip many interactions with weaker mobs 2) Main reason is, of course, Nightfall. Low cooldown blink with such high dmg and AoE just can’t be slow by definition.
If there had to be adjustments my suggestion would be to switch AoE values between Nighfall and Ring of Steel. RoS is rarely used for dmg these days simply because it’s no good. Nightfall on the other hand turns an already powerful single target-blink skill into a complete nuke monster. Which doesn’t sound right.
Another big, universal contribution to clear times are beacons which draw aggro very well and have RR on top of that. Unless this is somehow changed i don’t think we are ever coming back to “sub 6mins is OP” territory. Which is not bad, in my opinion, but that’s just me.
That’s all for now, guys. Join the army of the dead cold! 
