Efreet Warrior
Hello! This is a 2-handed melee Commando that uses the Conduit to convert Blade Arc to fire and employs that as his main skill. He also casts Blackwater Cocktail for a large amount of support. A lot of the build’s power comes from Shar’Zul’s Worldeater, and it doesn’t rely on item sets, but it does use a few MIs. It has a fairly standard devotion setup for fire damage.
Since I posted this in 1.1.5.2, a string of changes have buffed this build, while only a couple have weakened it. Most importantly, there’s now a 2H fire sword illusion to use with Blade Arc!
Most of the changes
The release of Balthazar’s Crest, Shar’Zul’s getting phys res and the granted skill getting buffed (twice), Menhir’s Bulwark becoming usable with 2H melee weapons, the Military Conditioning beef up, BWC having damage reduction, Blast Shield cooldown reduction, Faceguard of Justice changed to give +1 to all Soldier skills, extra damage on the Conduit, attack speed on Magi; Thermite Mines and Meteor Shower received nerfs on the other hand.
Here’s the screenshot of the character sheet with just permanent buffs on:
Grimtools
Updated 1.1.8.1 build (boots have “of the Wolverine” but it doesn’t show on GT)
Changes for 1.1.8.1
Items
- Helm switched to Mythical Faceguard of Justice (that has +1 to all skills in Soldier)
- Medal changed to Balthazar’s Crest
- One ring changed to Mythical Combustion Band
- Using shoulders and a ring with different affixes
- Ring components changed to Runebound Topaz
- Weapon component switched to Enchanted Flint
- Weapon augment changed to Potent Ravager’s Rage
Skills
- Oleron’s Rage dropped in favor of Menhir’s Bulwark
- War Cry dropped in favor of Demon Fire
- Fightning Spirit and Blast Shield reduced to lower break points, BWC reduced to 1 point
- Thermite Mine and Agonizing Flames hard capped
Devotions
- Quill replaced with Toad
1.1.8.1 build with the minimum affixes and no armor augments (generic setup)
1.1.5.2 build I was using
Generic setup for 1.1.5.2
For leveling a character like this, I would recommend using a combination of Demolitionist bombs (Blackwater, Grenado, Canister).
Performance
The build feels especially strong now. I’ve put together a video to demonstrate how it plays (includes Gargabol, Morgoneth, Lokarr, SR60-61 without Shrines or “camera abuse”, Crucible 150-170 with just Empyrion’s Guidance buff): YouTube link
1.1.5.2 performance: Imgur link for proof
Pros
- Strong, consistent damage
- Good AoE, especially for a melee build
- Very high resistances
- Multiple circuit breakers/defensive procs
- 200% casting speed on a melee build makes it very smooth to cast supporting skills
Cons
- Somewhat prone to being bursted down, but Menhir’s Bulwark greatly helps with this
- Resistance reduction (RR) is on the low side
- Freeze and petrify resistances are poor
- Energy sustain isn’t great
Items
I’ve opted for only the head piece of Justicar set. Why not more? Well, trying it greatly reduces phys res in favor of armor (which the build isn’t stacking anyway) and/or decreases DPS. Even the flat damage on the 3 piece bonus isn’t as valuable as the bonus skill points to BA that the MI shoulders provide.
Main hand: Shar’Zul’s Worldeater – extremely powerful for a fire Commando and greatly helps with needed skill points, but Sunherald’s Claymore is a viable alternative
Helm: Mythical Faceguard of Justice – a fantastic universal helm for Commandos
Chest Armor: Fateweaver’s Raiment – very, very good for builds that don’t have an essential chest piece, plus the % elemental damage and Flahsbang points are used
Shoulders: Benn’Jahr’s Pauldrons – good piece that not only gives points for the main skill, but has crucial stats: physical resistance and attack speed
Pants: Mythical Legwraps of the Tranquil Mind – the resistances are relevant and slow res is even needed; spirit enables equipping the chest piece; bonus to Flashbang and proc aren’t bad; not a mandatory item, a number of other choices could be a good replacement
Gloves: Mythical Grasp of Unchained Might – good stats on top of modifiers to Blade Arc
Boots: Stoneplate Greaves – a good flexible option; Mythical Wyrmscale Footguards, Mythical Golemborn Greaves and Mythical Magelord’s Greaves work as well
Belt: Mythical Ulzuin’s Torment – strong fire belt with bonuses to Demolitionist, couldn’t want much else
Amulet: Conduit of Warring Whispers – the build-enabling item
Ring 1: Cronley’s Signet – The best way to max Laceration, which is important for fire Blade Arc and scales extremely well by the ultimate rank; flexible on top of good stats
Ring 2: Mythical Combustion Band – a lot of favorable stats along with bonus RR make this excellent
Medal: Balthazar’s Crest – seems tailor-made for the build
Relic: Annihilation – perfect as all stats are desired, and the proc is augmented by the conversion the weapon has; the best completion bonus is Temper + Agonizing Flames
Crafting for stun or freeze resistance is preferred.
Augments and Components: Going full flat fire damage augments on rings and the weapon works out great; Enchanted Flint is a good fit, stacking conversion helps Shar’Zul’s Wrath, Meteor, and Meteor Shower; Killrian’s Shattered Soul works well here thanks to the attack speed and fire damage; Rune Augment is arbitrary.
Skills
Not much to say here, it’s mostly straight-forward. Investing into Blackwater Cocktail is easy with the bonus skills. It gives more freedom with Devotion choice and the damage reduction has better uptime than War Cry. There aren’t too many buttons to click and it doesn’t feel clunky.
Devotions
Ulzuin’s torch – obvious choice, but worth noting that the proc works nicely with the phys to fire conversion
Alladrah’s Phoenix – really good as it gives a lot of global crit damage which the masteries don’t provide, extra fire damage and some damage mitigation
Chariot of the Dead – solid Devotion that fits the affinities, and the CC res isn’t wasted
Viper – the elemental RR is actually significant against monsters with high fire resistance
Feedback
Shar’Zul’s Worldeater seems too stacked, but because it supports a class that is generally regarded as weaker, I suppose it’s fine
The proc on Killrian’s Shattered Soul could stand to have burn damage.
The toggle on Horns of Ekket’Zul looks like it should have chaos damage. Thanks to the Justicar helm change, the item feels obsolete for fire Commando now.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to @RektbyProtoss for some feedback on the build before I posted it!
Thanks to @banana_peel and @Nery for advice.
Another fire BA Commando that uses Sunherald’s Claymore and more Justicar set pieces by @RektbyProtoss
A more conventional way to use Blade Arc, a beginner’s build with a guide included by @Stupid_Dragon
A classic fire Commando that uses Forcewave instead by @afanasenkov26
