Hello gamers!
Have I ever expected to post a viable WH build, this many-times accursed class? I threw out so many variations of it, much more than even Templars and Paladins. Every freaking time I made one it appeared fragile, low damage, as if with constant Chains of Anguish debuff plus early-beta Sunder applied. Low Health, armor, skillpoints starvation did not help either. I still cannot figure out its mystery, why on paper it looks okay/good and in real game is just a piece of trash. Maybe my game client has something . Anyway, it seems I succeeded in making at least one “real build” worth sharing. Yes, its class main features - high %Physical Res, good innate Health Regen healing buffs - are going to be nerfed hard in upcoming 1.2.1.0 patch, but let it have a minute of glory before throwing this class into abyss again.
Enough chatting, let us start working!
1. Grimtools link.
Yugol path for DR with standard features for Cold builds like Murmur, Revenant for flat RR, Ghoul and Giant for better sustain. I used Physique dump for better Health values (regen as a nice bonus but not crucial), it is also not a bad idea to put more points into Spirit for more damage, DA is already more than enough with VoS.
2. In-game character stats.
general stats, only passive buffs, BoD and PB are active. Damage Per Second is for ABB.
ABB breakdown
magic stats
defense stats
3. Gear/Build explanation.
Max out ABB line, have good amount of Health (important for WH), OA/DA - are first and foremost goals. Wish I had more Armor .
- Core items.
Weapon 1. Olexra’s Chill. Important conversion for ABB and flat Cold, nice %Crit Damage, OA/DA, no %AS for some reasons unknown.
Weapon 2. Amarastan Crusher. One of two options for spamming ABB. Amulet is for fire ABB, so this weapon remains. It is good enough though - %Cold Damage, even some bonuses to BoD. Put it in main hand for more damage since ABB hits with off-hand for cryptic reasons (even devs cannot give us answers to that) and Olexra’s Chill scepter has better damage.
Helmet. Gargoyle Gaze. Actually huge slot with flat damage to ABB and great life-leech on top, Acid/Cold affinity helps a lot with suffixes. For all MIs - look for Health, OA, %Cold or %Elemental Damage. Great suffixes - “of Amarasta’s Flurry” and “of the Winter Storm” for damage/skillpoints to ABB line, drop frequently. - Mandatory items.
Chest. Frostdread Cuirass. Great %Health, %Cold Damage with aura, Energy Regen, %Bleed Res, +3 to ABB. Fits this build like a glove.
Pants. Deathwhisper Leggings. Nice Pierce/Cold pants with ABB line skillpoints, OA, %Phys Res, even with tiny ABB proc.
Medal. Ilgorr’s Eternal Curse. Good %WD bonus to ABB to compensate Amarastan Crusher debuff, %Health, Acid/Cold affinity.
Shoulders. Zantarin’s Shoulderguards. +3 to BoD and LA, %AS, %Physical Res, Health - everything we need.
Gloves. Iceskorn Talons. +2 to LA, some nice bonuses to ABB, %AS, %Pierce Res. Craftable.
Boots. Amatok’s Step. Amazing Cold slot with %Health - main reason to take here, %Phys Res, %Slow Res (helps if you lack “of Amarasta’s Flurry” suffixes), okay damage proc. - Can be changed.
Rings. Elemental Harmony. For Fire/Cold ABB, skillpoints to ABB line, nice stats, set bonus proc also is not bad. Craftable. I use those to fix my %Stun Res mostly, if you manage to do it in another way - purple Alkamos rings can also be great.
Amulet. Ellena’s Necklace. +1 to Nightblade, some damage bonuses to VoS, Cold affinity, can roll Health. Any +1 to Nightblade amulet should fit too.
Relic. Nidalla’s Outbreak. My favourite Cold Nightblade relic - +1 to mastery skills, great DA, Energy absorption, proc helps with damage too. Nemesis is an alternative if you like pets.
Belt. Gargoyle Waistguard. +1 to Nightblade, %Slow Res, Vitality-to-Cold conversion helps if you take Second Rite modifier of Solael’s Witchfire, but I do not have enough skillpoints for that. Any +1 to Nightblade belt is also good.
Craft with Reduced Stun Duration (bonus is provided by Malmouth blacksmith in Steelcap District).
About Resistance Reduction. Total amount is ~103% (-31% from Night’s Chill modifier of VoS, -25% from Vulnerability modifier of CoF, -23% from Murmur constellation and flat 24 from Revenant constellation) plus 20% from Viper constellation, so it may vary. Enough for most cases. Of course, some Cold-resistant Nemeses like Moosi, Kuba, Fabius can take some time to kill, but that is it, nothing more dangerous. Heavy Physical fighters can land big hits sometimes (that is why I complained about low Armor), but you can recover quickly enough. Energy potions needed from time to time, especially if you do not have Energy regen affixes like Insight on my helmet.
4. Gameplay.
Debuff everything with CoF, jump into packs with SS, apply RoS for CC/Fumble and Revenants, spam ABB for the rest of time. Uptime BoD and PB, Blade Barrier for tough situations and mocking Fabius, Amatok’s Breath for extra movement when needed. You can do it, I know .
5. Videos.
Mad Queen.
Kra’Vall.
Lokarr (do not take too much flame waves into your face, they can hurt ).
Morgoneth.
SR 75 full.
Avatar of Mogdrogen (potions are in the video, no Ather Clusters and healpots, clumsy attempts to avoid Sunder clouds - annoying for melee builds especially . Unfortunately for him, I am not a calm and reasonable person, so beating was guaranteed
).
Ravager of Flesh (potions are in the video, no Ather Clusters, occasional healpots, facetank with evading on sunder. Its Energy Leech is hard to handle, with my casual gaming skills, at least).
Callagadra (potions are in the video, no Ather Clusters, occasional healpots, facetank with evading on sunder on phase 1, kiting on phase 2. As always, low armor here does not help, sudden sands and tornadoes with fumble are scary).
Crate boss (potions are in the video, one Ather Cluster for safety, occasional healpots, kiting. Why on Earth I try this boss with melee builds? )
Clones of Bourbon (potions are in the video, no Ather Clusters and healpots, facetank).
So, that was my only endgame-working Witch Hunter. The curse is broken for this time, but I do not have high hopes - it will return one day. Right, 1.2.1.0?
Thanks for reading, please share your comments and feedback. Until next build!