credit to @banana_peel for suggesting to use Acid Purge here
credit to @Eardianm for reminding me to use relic aura on that build
*
*Similar to this movie, Ravenous Earth nerfs leave a bad aftertaste
Foreword (rant)
After the massacre that were the latest patch nerfs to Ravenous Earth items, the already shaky Vitality meta was left in a dire state. Crate’s outdated stance on Vitality builds - “slow, but immortal” - really hurts Vitality builds in the endgame (and apparently in early stages as well as Bonespike was a very common levelling weapon for Necromancers). Because being slow in the toughest endgame challenges usually increases your character’s chances of dying since Vitality builds’ main trade - insane amount of life leech - gets cut down significantly by the amount of debuffs that pile up during longer fights versus several heroes/bosses in Crucible or Shattered Realm.
Moreover, outside of Ravenous Earth (and Wildblood’s Vines) Vitality spells and sets offer very little firepower. For example, one of my old favourite builds - Valguur Ritualist - added about 20-30 seconds to its Crucible timer in the latest patch, because without proper RE’s support the tools that Valguur set offer are very underwhelming: you can barely keep uptime of 4 totems and using Halakor’s amulet for 5th totem (vitality amulet that on paper should complement the set) doesn’t even make sense and Siphon Souls does very little damage and doesn’t even have a full uptime with a dedicated set and mod from the medal.
So anyway, this is a last ditch attempt to make a working endgame Ravenous Earth build with the tools that are left.
The Build
1.2.0.2 Update!
Patch 1.2 made Venomfire amulet unneccessary and changed Vitality damage quite a bit. New spec has 5 Scions of Dreeg helping us with a bit more firepower too.
<<<< GRIMTOOLS (actual) >>>>*
GRIMTOOLS (patch 1.1.9.8)
GRIMTOOLS (patch 1.1.9.6)
GRIMTOOLS (patch 1.1.9.4)
*Craft for freeze resistance
**It’s important to get %cdr prefix on the amulet
***For deep shards and Celestial fights you can siphon points from RE’s last nod into MoT and Resilience
Ravenously Asked Questions
So the answer to making the best RE build were mostly farmable items, some acid items and faction amulet?
Amulet got buffed in the latest patch. Unfortunately in the current balance overnerfed Vitality sets (Dark One, Valguur, Blightlord) can’t really compete with this mish-mash of items
So what, Ravenous Earth nerfs were justified then?
No, not at all. Outside of Bonespike and Soulcatcher and maybe Blightlord set RE did not perform well, and all of those items were heavily nerfed. And outside of this spec which is also heavily supported by steroided Guardians and Oathkeeper’s great CDR and mobility Ravenous Earth will still be mediocre.
Will Crate nerf this? Damage seems too high for a Vitality build.
It’s still on a glassier side for a Vitality build. Build doesn’t facetank that well and has no DA at all. But Crate is known to make nerfs that defy all experienced builders’ data and feedback just because “they know better” and they “don’t owe anyone any explanation” (which is a code for “we don’t play our own game in endgame but we don’t like it when you think you know better than us”). Examples are health regeneration nerfs, RE nerfs, Rah’Zin nerfs, etc.
Gear/Skills and Devotions/Leveling
Get one Formidable prefix between shoulders and pants. It’s important to get %cdr prefix on the amulet.
Classic Vitality powerhouse devotion map and standard skill distribution. Bone Harvest is here to apply Wendigo and to add a bit of leech.
For leveling check beginner guides, this is an endgame build
Gameplay
In Crucible build facetanks some combos but sometimes it needs to kite. Remember that it’s perfectly okay to kite with this build and use Mark of Torment frequently.
Just watch the videos to learn how to play the build.
Stats
with ascension up
Videos
1.1.9.6 Shard 90 with one death (turtle setup)
1.1.9.6 Crucible naked extra spawn 5:16 (turtle setup)
1.1.9.6 Ravager 1:48 facetank (turtle setup)
1.1.9.6 Crucible Gladiator 150-170 4:21 run
1.1.9.4 Retal_Abuser’s Callagadra Kill
1.1.9.4 Crucible Gladiator 150-170 lucky 4:20 run
1.1.9.4 Crate of Entertainment 22 seconds kill
1.1.9.4 Shard 90 run with unbound Bat
1.1.9.4 Crucible Gladiator 150-170 “naked” extra spawn 5:48 run”
1.1.9.4 Ravager 2:17 kill - this one needs kiting
Callagadra kill (didn’t have the patience to kite here properly and was dying all the time, thanks to @mergoswetnurse for providing a kill and a screenshot)
https://i.imgur.com/5rFiHyO.png
In Conclusion
Happy New Ravenous Year!
