Vanquisher has been hit by some nerfs the latest patches and i wanted to try and optimize my prior version a bit more. The set seems to be in a good spot still and able to tackle most content with good piloting. Make sure to charge through mobs and use Null all the time to reduce incoming elemental damage and remove debuffs/buffs!
Judicator rings may seem odd but i like how they fit here. They provide reliable damage reduction and flat RR, great OA boost and somewhat salvaging the atrocious DA. Note that is uses non-mythical medal version for some very important human racial bonus.
Leveling guide and budget version to get started
Level with solo Oathkeeper. I started with 1 point Righteous Fervor and then worked towards Vire’s Might. Put one point in Judgment as well to gather mobs. Rush to Volcanic Stride since it will be the main damage dealer and burn stacker. Get 12/12 Tectonic Shift to reduce Vire’s CD and continue working towards Guardians of Empyrion with Celestial Presence. Put more points in Volcanic Stride if you are lacking damage.
Use an off hand since CDR will be your best stat to spam more Vire’s. Might be a bit slow until you get to Volcanic Stride but once you get going and especially when you pick up Zarthuzellan’s Archive outside of Steps of Torment the build will really take off. Make sure you get the version with Vire’s Might bonuses.
I recommend siding with Death’s Vigil and kill Sister Bravna north east of Blood Grove waypoint for her MI with additional CDR to Vire’s Might.
As for devotions I started out with Dryad and then went for Ghoul. Afterwards I would go Turtle > Spider > Eldritch Fire > Behemoth > Mantis > Elemental Storm
GRIMTOOLS
Budget build with faction gear and MIs which can farm Skeleton Dungeons or speed target farm MIs/vendors. Can take on SR 75-76 as well but it wont be fast. Look for more HP, phys res, OA and %dmg.
Weapon: Hexflame is pretty good until you can get Mythical Cinderscorn or Warpfire.
Offhand: BIS
Chest: Use whatever best item you have here. Mythical Eastern chest + legs would be a great pick up.
Legs: Use whatever best item you have here. Mythical Eastern chest + legs would be a great pick up.
Arcane Harmony Leggings are also really good.
Belt: BIS if well rolled, use Mythical Crimson Lotus if you have it.
Boots: Use whatever you have here.
Gloves: Pretty good faction gloves. Cindertouch or Mythical Inscribed Bracers are great options.
Shoulders: Moosi shoulders are really good because of phys res, HP and +3 Vire’s Might.
Helm: BIS until you get Vanquisher set.
Medal: Good to hardcap Volcanic Stride.
Amulet: CDR and good resists but otherwise not the best. Use until you can get Kaisan’s or Vanquisher.
Rings: Not horrible and they have good resists.
Relic: Faction item and +1 Oathkeeper to cap skills.
Crucible
Shattered Realm
Celestials
Ravager
A lot of attacks can be avoided by longer vire charges, i wanted to push the kill timer and played a bit reckless.
Hmmm now that I’ve completed the build, Warpfire does feel at least on par with with Cinderscorn, though the sheet dps for Cinderscorn might be quite misleading (with a sheet dps of 20% over Warpfire since it has +2 Vire’s Might and Inferno)
Does burn duration matter when you’re constantly refreshing your Vire’s Might anyway? Or do the fire trails stack?
Cinderscorn only adds the flat burn to the initial rush from VM. Most of the VM damage is done from stacking Volcanic Stride over and over. Burn duration does matter because it will cause crit burns to last longer and this build has a ton of burn damage as well. While the two weapons might have similar sheet DPS, the -%RR and other mods noted make it way better against more difficult enemies like nemeses and Celestials.
Hello again,
revisiting this build in the midst of the 1.2 playtest - do you think it’d be feasible to incorporate the Arcanist’s OFF into one of its skills (given that the Freeze RR has been baked into the skill now) to capitalise on its huge Fire RR?
But looking at OFF’s rather lack-luster freeze duration to begin with, that huge Fire RR boost wouldn’t last long (especially with elites), would it?
Hi,
Personally i’d avoid adding more buttons since you want to skate around with Vire as much as possible. I would like to know how the new OFF works out though so give it a try if you’re up for it! I only briefly tested unmodded 12/12 OFF on some hipster pet build and it didn’t show great results since the freeze was so short.
Updated OP with new grimtools - improved tankiness and ran it through SR 90 (non test realm so no sunder)
You mean the pants and offhand? Pants can be replaced by Myth Arcane Harmony, offhand is irreplaceable because it has coversion and -cdr to Vire’s might.
if it’s the affixes on the greens you mean you don’t need those 1:1
but as Holystar mentions you can’t replace the offhand, it’s crucial to the build (also super easy to get btw), the specific affixes is just like a potential bis showcase, not what’s necessary for bare minimum function
I understood.
Thanks @Gnomish_Inquisition and @holystar88 for reply.
I’ll try to drop the codex in steps of torment.
I still have some items missing, the set in fact.
I hadn’t looked at the drop location and was trying to drop in SR.
TY for sharing and updating this build, feels fun vroom vroom. For the medal slot, if we don’t have the normal blood of ch’thon is the coven mark of the arcane the next best place holder? I’m a brain dead build copy/paster and just looking for any alternative medal suggestions. Doesn’t have to be super optimized. Thanks!
Hi glad you like it! Best alternative would be the Mark of Harvoul MI, which will get you to 18/12 Tectonic Shift for some faster Vire spam. Getting the Paladin’s prefix on it would be amazing since it will also cap Vire’s Might then. Coven Mark of the Arcane is a really good alternative and other alternatives would be Stonefather’s Crest (get Tectonic Shift to 18/12), Blazeseer Crest
