[1.1.9.3] The Fakeuisher - Physical Skater Warlord

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I can’t believe it’s not Vanquisher!

Introduction
1.1.9.2-1.1.9.3 Update

One of the biggest changes in patch 1.1.9.2 is that armor now (correctly) applies to converted Physical damage. Because of this, and because our build is focused on lots of smaller Physical hits, we need to change our devotion setup to include Dire Bear for the armor reduction.

In terms of gear, nothing much has really changed, although Platemail of Octavius and M. Menhirian received some nice buffs. Rare off-hand prefixes were also nerfed however, with Sandstorm being hit hardest of them all, so you may want to consider switching to Glacial for extra stats or Thunderstruck for some extra OA.


Hello everybody, I’m back with another skater build! Some of you might remember me for my Vanquisher’s Set build guide, but this time I wanted to theorycraft something a bit different. Though this build uses no set bonuses, it actually performs surprisingly well, and is capable of taking down pretty much all content in the game. So, here it is - the Fakeuisher, aka the setless Physical skater Warlord.

Should I Play This Build?

As with Vanquisher, this build is incredibly fun and satisfying to play. You should definitely give this build a try if:

  • You want to play the undisputed fastest build in the game (tied with Vanquisher)
  • You want to try a different playstyle that’s unlike anything else in the game
  • You want to kill the Celestial superbosses by running circles around them
  • You want a character that can efficiently farm both campaign and SR
  • You want to play a skater without having to farm the full Vanquisher’s Set

On the other hand, this build might not be for you if:

  • You want a lazy build - this build is very active and requires a ton of mouse movement
  • You are prone to motion sickness and/or seizures
  • You are allergic to using MIs in your build

Build Explanation

stats
Character sheet with permanent buffs only.

GRIMTOOLS (Affixless)
GRIMTOOLS (Current Setup)

This build aims to get the cooldown on Vire’s Might low enough that we can spam it. The stacked Volcanic Stride trails are then fully converted to Physical damage, which also trigger Shifting Sands for additional damage as well.

How it Works:

We get enough flat CDR to Vire’s Might from Zarthuzellan’s Archive (-0.5s), Skybreaker Circlet (-0.5s), Shard of the Eternal Flame (-0.6s), and Tectonic Shift (-1.5s) to bring the cooldown down to 0.5s before any percentage reductions. This is actually more CDR than the Vanquisher’s Set, and as such means that Vire’s Might effectively has no cooldown since it will be available again by the time the charge finishes.

Because of this, we can then layer lots of Volcanic Stride trails on top of each other for massive damage, as the flat damage from each trail stacks. Additionally, we have 100% global Elemental to Physical conversion from our gear, which allows us to benefit from Cunning as well as all of the Physical damage bonuses that Warlord provides. Unfortunately, the trails still look like fire, despite dealing 100% Physical damage.

azrakaa

While not as strong as Aetherfire, Shifting Sands is still a very powerful devotion skill whose proc chance increases to 68% when bound to Vire’s Might. This chance is also shared with Volcanic Stride, and each trail has its own chance to trigger the devotion. Though there is a cooldown, it is very short (~0.4s with CDR) which allows us to take advantage of the build’s insane proc potential.

Advanced Mechanics

For an in-depth discussion of the build’s mechanics, refer to this post. Though the discussion about Aetherfire does not apply to this build, the rest of the information is still relevant.


On top of that, the Shifting Sands proc deals weapon damage, which provides a bit of lifesteal, and also applies OA shred and impaired aim for additional layers of defense. It also covers a larger area than Aetherfire, and can hit an enemy again on the way back if was not blocked by an obstacle.

Defensively, the build is no slouch either, as it has over 15k health, 4k armor, and 50% Physical resistance just from gear alone. Meanwhile, War Cry provides on-demand damage reduction with nearly 100% uptime, while Turtle Shell also acts as a low-cooldown, high-uptime circuit breaker that can block incoming damage when we get low.

Gear

This build uses several green MI (Monster Infrequent) items, some of which are mandatory and some of which are less so. Generally speaking, the affixes do not matter that much, but below are some particular affixes that you may want to look out for:

  • Physical Resistance
    • Overseer's (helm), Formidable (all armor)
    • Destroyer's, Thunderstruck, Glacial, Sandstorm (off-hand)
  • Offensive Ability
    • Aggressive, of Attack (all armor and jewelry)
    • of Readiness, of the Dranghoul (all armor and jewelry)
  • Physical Damage
    • of Ruin (all items)
    • Stonefaced, Imposing (all jewelry)
  • Other Resistances
    • Anything that can help cap or reasonably overcap your resistances

The listed version of this build does not use any non-relic crafted items, but if you do choose to use them, try to craft for stun resistance (Kaylon in Steelcap District) or armor (Angrim in Devil’s Crossing).

Mandatory Gear

Recommended Gear

  • M. Decree of the Circle of Five + Platemail of Octavius + Korvan Spaulders -
  • One of two ways to achieve 100% Elemental to Physical conversion on this build, with the other being M. Beronath, Reforged. However, M. Decree of the Circle of Five has more Physical damage as well as a bit of CDR and +1 Soldier skills on top. Platemail of Octavius and Korvan Spaulders also provide lots of flat health, and can each roll up to 5% Physical resistance as well.
  • M. Menhirian - Provides bonuses to Vire's Might and Tectonic Shift along with good Physical damage and defensive bonuses. This ring was basically made for this build.
  • M. Ring of the Black Matriarch - Mostly used for the RR proc, though it does have a solid amount of Physical damage and Cunning as well.
  • M. Hellforged Legplates - Hardcaps Volcanic Stride and also comes with a nice chunk of DA and Physical damage. It also has some of the highest Physical resistance possible among pants, with up to 7% at max roll.
  • Serenity (Crafted) - An all-around relic with +1 all skills, some health, and resistances. More importantly though, it provides a circuit breaker that can help immensely against more dangerous opponents.

Other Gear

  • M. Earthshatter Treads - Lots of DA, Physical damage, and Physical resistance, along with a +2 bonus to Tectonic Shift that gets us to hardcap. The damage reduction from the active skill is not that useful, but it does give us a way to trigger Dryad’s Blessing without resorting to Bone Lance.
  • M. Obsidian Grasp - Similar to above, this item is mostly used for its Physical damage and Physical resistance stats, though it also shares an incidental bonus to Tectonic Shift as well.
  • Mark of Harvoul - Used to hardcap Tectonic Shift while also providing a bit of extra RR from Break Morale. It also adds some flat Physical damage to War Cry and Vire’s Might, both of which we make extensive use of.
  • Ugdenbog Girdle - A generic +1 Soldier belt that comes with armor and Vitality resistance, along with two affixes that can help fix your resistances or OA. The conversion roll does not matter here since we do not have any Acid damage to convert.

Alternatives

  • M. Beronath, Reforged (Crafted) - The other way to achieve 100% Elemental to Physical damage conversion. Though this sword frees up our chest and shoulder slots, it comes at a price as it lacks +1 Soldier skills, has less damage, and also costs quite a bit of energy to maintain, which can be a problem for an energy-starved class like Warlord. I have yet to find a chest + shoulder combination that would make this sword worth using over M. Decree of the Circle of Five.
  • Viper Sandspitter - A fairly easy to obtain MI with Elemental to Physical conversion that can be used as a placeholder until you find a M. Decree of the Circle of Five. It doesn’t offer much else however, so I wouldn’t use it in the final build. If you can’t get one to drop, you can also purchase it from Yurrith in Tomb of the Heretic.
  • Spellscourge Vanguard / Targo’s Shoulderguard / M. Dustbrawler Shoulderguards -
    Any of these shoulders can be used in place of a well-rolled Korvan Spaulders as they also have Elemental to Physical conversion. However, the Korvan Spaulders are still going to be better endgame option since it can roll Physical resistance or patch up any holes in your build.
  • M. Mark of Kalastor (Crafted) - Though you won't be hardcapped on Tectonic Shift anymore, this medal has nearly everything else that we could want - resistances, OA, Physical damage, armor, and stun resistance to boot. A solid alternative if you don't have or don't want to farm for a well-rolled Mark of Harvoul.
  • M. Windshear Greaves (Crafted) - These boots have almost the exact same stat profile as M. Earthshatter Treads, though they lack the bonus to Tectonic Shift. In return, they offer tons of entrapment resistance, which can be very useful when fighting lots of enemies that can trap you, e.g. in SR.
  • Deathstalker (Crafted) - Although a natural choice for many Physical damage builds, I am hesitant to use it here as this build is both light on +skill modifiers and has no circuit breaker outside of Serenity. If you do choose to use this relic, you will also need to use a +1 Oathkeeper belt in order to maintain the hardcap on Volcanic Stride and Tectonic Shift.

Devotions

The devotion setup is fairly typical for a Physical damage build. We take Assassin’s Blade for the RR, 4 points in Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak for the damage buff, and then work our way towards the blue/yellow/purple T3 devotions.

Azrakaa, the Eternal Sands serves as our primary damage devotion while also providing lots of useful bonuses to our build. As mentioned previously, Shifting Sands has weapon damage for lifesteal, along with OA shred (which is effectively increased DA for us) and impaired aim. Though the projectile can theoretically hit an enemy twice, it disappears if it collides with an obstacle, making it less effective in closed areas. Nevertheless, its high damage and low cooldown makes it one of the best devotion skills that we could put on Vire’s Might.

Dire Bear is absolutely critical for our build. Since our build is focused on lots of smaller Physical hits, the armor reduction from Maul is a huge damage increase that acts almost like a second type of RR. It also provides a good mix of offensive and defensive bonuses, as well as a bit of sustain due to the lifesteal from the proc.

Turtle has historically been an ignored devotion, but with the recent buffs to both cooldown and damage absorption, it has started to find its way into a number of builds. For this build in particular, it serves as a low-cooldown circuit breaker that we would otherwise be lacking, since we cannot use Menhir’s Will.

The rest of our devotions are mostly just stepping stones that are taken for their efficient affinity returns. The notable exception here is Dryad, which not only provides some much-needed sustain (especially against Superbosses which are highly resistant to lifesteal), but also reduces the Spirit requirement for all weapons, including off-hands. This is pretty significant as Warlord gets very little Spirit from the mastery bar, and Zarthuzellan’s Archive needs a whopping 724 Spirit before we can equip it.

For devotion bindings, Azrakaa, the Eternal Sands should be bound to Vire’s Might to take advantage of the numerous fire trails. Meanwhile, binding Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak to War Cry, Dire Bear to Judgment, and Dryad to Ground Smash (from M. Earthshatter Treads) gives us a 100% proc chance on each devotion skill, allowing us to reliably keep them up during a fight. And finally, we have Assassin’s Blade, which is a bit tricky to bind as it triggers on crit instead of on attack like most devotions. Normally, we would bind it to our main attack for maximum uptime, but since Vire’s Might is already taken, I decided to bind it to Summon Guardian of Empyrion instead. With two guardians constantly attacking enemies, it’s somewhat consistent as long as your OA is high enough.

The devotion progress should look something like what is listed below.

  • (+) Yellow Crossroads
  • (+) Assassin’s Blade (Summon Guardian of Empyrion)
  • (+) Dryad (Ground Smash or Bone Lance)
  • (+) Blue Crossroads
  • (+) Turtle (any permanent aura)
  • (+) Harvestman’s Scythe
  • (+) Dire Bear (Judgment)
  • (+) Empty Throne
  • (+) Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak (4 pts) (War Cry)
  • (+) Sailor’s Guide
  • (+) Eel
  • (+) Azrakaa, the Eternal Sands (Vire’s Might)
  • (+) Obelisk of Menhir (3 pts)
  • (+) Light of Empyrion (2 pts)

Gameplay & Leveling

This build plays almost identically to Vanquisher - use Vire’s Might to charge through enemies, stacking Volcanic Stride and Shifting Sands for damage along the way. Similarly, Judgment and War Cry are AoE skills that we use to shred enemy resistances and DA as well as lower their damage output. Ascension can also be used for a temporary damage boost, or for absorbing damage against tough enemies.

Though this build has impressive defensive stats, it lacks the circuit breakers and situational abilities that Vanquisher usually has. This makes it easier to play comparatively, but also means that we might have some trouble dealing with certain endgame encounters.

As with Vanquisher, we can also just kite enemies endlessly through Volcanic Stride, which is a very safe, if slow, method of killing enemies.

Using Force Move

Against enemies with large hitboxes, you may often find yourself running into them instead of through them, which deals significantly less damage as they won’t be hit by the fire trail from Volcanic Stride. In this case, you can hold down the Force Move key while using Vire’s Might to disable direct targeting, which will allow you to control your movement better.

You can also “toggle” Force Move by binding it to a numpad key and turning off Num Lock, or by binding it to Alt and using Alt-Tab on Windows. Note that you won’t be able to interact with doors and chests while in Force Move mode, so you should experiment with the keybindings and find a setup that’s comfortable to play with.


For leveling, we will be using Forcewave to make the most of our devotion setup. Below you will find a series of snapshots which will outline roughly what your build should look like from start to finish. Your actual build will not be exactly the same due to random drops, but any notable items to look out for will be listed under the appropriate sections.

You can also check out this video guide by @RektbyProtoss or some of the beginner guides on the forum such as this one by @The_Coyote for more information on how to level a Warlord.

General Guidelines

One important note about Forcewave is that it scales with casting speed, and NOT attack speed. Therefore, you will want e.g. of Celerity suffix on your weapon instead of of Alacrity. As Forcewave is a weapon damage-based skill, it is also important to upgrade your weapon every 10-20 levels or so, or else your damage will start to fall behind.

This leveling setup differs a bit from the usual Forcewave leveling guides; rather than putting most of our points into Physique, we use a 5:1 Cunning to Spirit ratio for extra damage up until level 50, after which we switch to a 5:1 Cunning to Physique ratio instead. This ensures that we have plenty of damage while leveling, while still being able to equip our items at all stages of the game.

For a list of devotion shrines, check out the Grimtools Checklist which can help you find and keep track of the devotion shrines that you have already visited, as well as any important quests and one-shot chests that you may have missed.

As usual, it’s very important to keep your resistances as high as possible. In addition to item affixes, you can also use components and augments to help fix your resistances. Don’t forget that you can have both a component and an augment on a single item at once.

Once you’ve hit Honored with a faction, make sure to visit their faction vendor and purchase a Writ, which is a consumable (you need to click on it) that will increase all reputation that you gain with that faction by 50%. This will help you hit Revered status much faster, where you will have access to the best gear/augments/blueprints.

For faction choices, you should choose the following:

  • Order vs. Kymon - Siding with the Order is mandatory in order to get Skybreaker Circlet, which drops from a Kymon’s Chosen boss.
  • The Outcast - Ally with the Outcast for access to additional faction gear and augments.
  • Barrowholm - Ally with Barrowholm for the same reasons as above.

Levels 1-5 (Act 1 Normal, Burial Hill)

Level 1-5 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:00:06
Notable Items: Hevill's Greatsword

Since we are a 2H build, pick up pick up Hevill’s Greatsword as our starter weapon, which will always spawn on this corpse. If you find a weapon component (e.g. Cracked Lodestone), make sure to put it on the Hevill’s Greatsword once you reach level 5.

Put one point into Forcewave at level 2, then continue to put points into the Soldier mastery bar until you reach Tremor at level 4. Afterwards, continue to put points into Forcewave for the extra damage.


Levels 5-10 (Act 1 Normal, Devil's Aquifer)

Level 5-10 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:00:20
Notable Items: (None)

Max out Forcewave and put a value point into Menhir’s Will for the circuit breaker ability. At this level you should be killing most enemies with one hit anyways, but the extra safety is always nice to have.

Put your first devotion point into Yellow Crossroads and then start working on Assassin’s Blade, which will provide some much needed resistance reduction.


Levels 10-18 (Act 1 Normal, Warden Krieg)

Level 10-18 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:00:55
Notable Items: Slith Primal Ring, Milton's Casque, Shambler's Heart, Emblem of the Charging Bull

Keep putting points into the Soldier mastery bar, with 1 point each into Blitz, Rending Force, Internal Trauma, and Field Command. Ultimately, we want to push to the end of the Soldier bar for the Oleron’s Rage exclusive skill.

As you pass through Act 1, look for a Shambler’s Heart, which drops from the Ancient Shambler in the Flooded Passage. This amulet provides a signficant damage boost to Forcewave, especially early on, so you may want to reload the session if you don’t get it on your first try. Another item to look out for is Milton’s Casque, which we mainly use for the CDR to Blitz to move around faster.

After killing Warden Krieg, talk to The Emissary to start the Forgotten Gods questline and side with Solael. This gives you immediate access to Emblem of the Charging Bull from the faction vendor, which is a ground-targeted dash like Vire’s Might which will improve our mobility even further.

By the end of Act 1, you should have enough points to finish Assassin’s Blade, which should be bound to Forcewave for maximum uptime, as well as start on Dryad for the heal and physical resistance.


Levels 18-25 (Act 2 Normal, Broken Hills)

Level 18-25 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:01:33
Notable Items: Bone Talisman, Restless Remains

On a fresh start, this section is very important since the best in slot component Restless Remains is a faction reward from the Rovers. In that case, it’s important to try to complete as many quests with them as you can, as well as kill any Undead that you see, so that you can buy the recipe as soon as possible.

If you don’t have a relic already, pick the lie option when turning in The Lost Elder quest to receive the Bone Talisman relic. Otherwise, you should hand in the talisman for the additional Rovers reputation.

As previously, keep pushing the Soldier mastery bar to reach Oleron’s Rage at the end. You may also want to put a value point into War Cry and Break Morale for a bit of damage and resistance reduction. For devotions, finish up Dryad and bind it to Blitz for a 100% proc chance, then start working on Turtle.


Levels 25-35 (Act 3-4 Normal, Fort Ikon)

Level 25-35 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:03:14
Notable Items: (None)

After completing the Soldier mastery bar, max out Oleron’s Rage for the massive bonuses to OA and movement speed and Break Morale for the resistance reduction. You should also have enough devotion points by now to finish Panther and Turtle, which can be bound to any permanent aura.


Levels 35-40 (Act 4 Normal, Loghorrean)

Level 35-40 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:04:14
Notable Items: Obsidian War Cleaver

The end of Act 4 contains the most important monster infrequent for Forcewave leveling, the Obsidian War Cleaver. This item is a massive damage increase compared to anything else at its level, so if you don’t find one on your first try, restart your game session and try again. Physical damage and casting speed rolls are preferred, but anything will do for leveling.

We’ve taken most of what we wanted from the Soldier mastery by this point, so pick Oathkeeper as your second class and push the mastery bar. Make sure to take a point in Vire’s Might as well for the mobility, and possibly Presence of Virtue and Resilience if you feel like it.

For devotions, finish Hammer and put the remaining points into Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak.


Levels 40-50 (Act 5-6 Normal, Ugdenbog to Malmouth)

Level 40-50 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:05:56
Notable Items: Ugdenbog Girdle

While in Gloomwald and Ugdenbog, look out for the Ugdenbog Girdle, which drops from the (non-ghostly) crabs. We mostly want this belt for the +1 Soldier skills, but it has solid defensive stats as well.

Continue to put points into the Oathkeeper mastery, with one point into Tectonic Shift for the bonus cooldown reduction and range to Vire’s Might. You should also be able to complete Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak and bind it to War Cry, which will give you a convenient damage buff when you need it.


Levels 50-54 (Act 7 Normal, Korvan Desert)

Level 50-54 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:07:21
Notable Items: Chosen Gaze, Endurance

We run through Act 7 mostly for the numerous devotion shrines, although some of the Korvaak’s Chosen cultists also have a chance to drop Chosen Gaze, which provides a nice damage bonus to Forcewave. By the end of the questline, you should have enough devotion points to finish Toad and Kraken while starting on Azrakaa, the Eternal Sands.

Act 7 doesn’t provide a lot of experience, but we have just enough skill points to reach the end of the Oathkeeper mastery bar and pick up Summon Guardian of Empyrion and Celestial Presence.

Once you are Respected with any of the three Forgotten Gods factions, talk to their faction vendor and purchase the Endurance blueprint. This relic gives us +1 to Oathkeeper skills and some physical resistance, which is good enough to last us until endgame.


Levels 54-60 (Act 1-2 Elite)

Level 54-60 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:08:59
Notable Items: (None)

The main goal of this section is to max out Celestial Presence for the resistance reduction. If you have extra points left over, feel free to invest a point into some of the Soldier and Oathkeeper passives as well.

By the end of Act 2 Elite, we should have all of our devotion points available, which will allow us to finish Azrakaa, the Eternal Sands and partially complete Obelisk of Menhir and Light of Empyrion for their strong defensive bonuses.


Levels 60-65 (Act 3-4 Elite)

Level 60-65 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:10:19
Notable Items: (None)

By this point, you should have a point into each of the relevant Soldier and Oathkeeper passives, along with Ascension and Clarity of Purpose. Any extra points can be dumped into Field Command for the extra OA, DA, and armor.


Levels 65-74 (Act 5-6 Elite)

Level 65-74 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:12:38
Notable Items: Obsidian War Cleaver

Max out Field Command, then put the rest of the points into Squad Tactics for casting speed.

If you haven’t done so already, you will also want to farm a higher level Obsidian War Cleaver from the Chthonics in Mourndale. The level 70 version can carry you all the way to 94 with good rolls, so it may be worthwhile to spend some time farming for them.


Levels 77-83 (Act 1-2 Ultimate)

Level 77-83 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:14:55
Notable Items: (None)

Keep Squad Tactics at 12/12 softcap, since the casting speed bonus scales poorly after that. With the remaining points, softcap War Cry for the damage reduction and max out Break Morale for the extra resistance reduction.

By Ultimate difficulty you should be Revered or getting close to Revered with several factions, so make sure to check the vendors for faction gear and augments. These augments stack with components on the same slot and can help patch up your resistances or boost your OA and DA.


Levels 83-89 (Act 3-4 Ultimate)

Level 83-89 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:17:00
Notable Items: (None)

Either softcap or keep Military Conditioning at 11/10 for the extra physique and health, then spend the remaining points on Rending Force for some extra damage to Forcewave.


Levels 89-94 (Act 5-6 Ultimate)

Level 89-94 Grimtools
Time to Level: 0:18:47
Notable Items: (None)

Max out Rending Force for the extra damage. After that, the skill point allocation is somewhat flexible; I would recommend either Scars of Battle for the armor absorption, 1pt Judgment plus Crushing Verdict for the enemy DA reduction, or Ascension for the flat damage absorb.


Levels 94-100 (Endgame)

Level 100 Grimtools
Notable Items: Fettan Mask, M. Stonefist Rebuke

If you have the gear already, you can respec to the final build shown in the Build Explanation section at this point. Otherwise, Forcewave makes for a strong starter character that can easily farm totems and skeleton key dungeons for the required gear.

Some notable gear upgrades include the Fettan Mask, which is a guaranteed drop from this urn cluster near the Maw of Enaht, as well as M. Stonefist Rebuke, which is a random (but fairly common) drop from anywhere in the world.


 
Superbosses

Before attempting to kill a superboss, make sure that you have enough resistance overcap to deal with any RR that they or their summons might have. See the individual boss sections for more details. As a general rule, you also want to have 3.1k+ DA to avoid being crit, though you can get away with less if you are familiar with the boss fight. Most superbosses also have an enrage at 50% health, so pay close attention to their health and be extra careful when they are low.

Rashalga, the Mad Queen

Rashalga, the Mad Queen is not a true superboss, but she can be just as difficult to deal with, if not more so. The main thing to worry about is the big red aura which activates when she screams. While affected by the aura, she will shoot out spikes whenever we damage her with Volcanic Stride or Shifting Sands, which needless to say, will be very often.

Since we have neither Mirror of Ereoctes or Nullification, our only option is to run away when that happens. Once the aura is gone, you can skate through her without much risk, though you should still pay attention to her screams.

Lokarr

Lokarr is fairly easy to deal with as long as you have 70+ Fire and Lightning resistance overcap. Just skate through him over and over again until he dies. If possible, try to fight with a wall behind you so that his fire spikes don't come back to hit you twice.

Avatar of Mogdrogen

Avatar of Mogdrogen can actually be very challenging for this build, as he deals almost entirely Lightning damage while we have mostly Physical Resistance and armor. Even with 80+ Lightning Resistance overcap, you may still want to use some items that provide +% Maximum Lightning Resistance in the medal slot (e.g. Mark of Stone Will, M. Mark of Divinity) for extra defense.

The most challenging part about this encounter is his autoattack, which stuns for 0.5 seconds. Since any amount of stun will disrupt Vire’s Might, it becomes difficult to actually stack fire trails on top of him. On top of that, he also moves around often and his summons can get in the way of your charge, so having Force Move turned on is recommended. This build also has the unique problem of killing his summons too quickly with Shifting Sands, which results in “dry periods” where we have nothing to lifesteal off of for sustain.

Luckily, he is not very fast, so you can always run away to wait out cooldowns or regain health. Keep in mind however that he has a lot of health regeneration, and can heal surprisingly quickly if you don’t constantly damage him.

Ravager

Ravager is actually quite easy for this build. We can "facetank" him by charging through him right as he is trying to hit us. When his attack animation ends, we will be too far away for the attack to connect, effectively dodging the attack. We can also tank his attacks pretty easily thanks to all of our armor and Physical Resistance, so there is little risk of actually dying here. If you find yourself getting low however, you can also run away towards Barrowholm and he will leash back to his spawn location.

All forms of Ravager have 55 RR, but the damage that they deal depends on which version you summoned. Ravager of Flesh deals additional Vitality and Bleeding damage, Ravager of Minds deals additional Elemental damage, and Ravager of Souls deals additional Aether damage.

Callagadra, Scion of the Sands

Though our build is very tanky against Physical damage, we don't have the sustain to facetank Callagadra, and so we will need to kite. Bind Assassin's Blade to Vire's Might for maximum uptime on your RR, ane ensure that you have at least 60% Pierce Resistance overcap.

Luckily, the Korvan Sands are large and open, making it very easy to kite her. However, make sure you clear out the entire area first, as some of the mobs can heal her if they get too close.

After she spawns, drag her to a rock formation and kite her around it while Volcanic Stride deals damage. If possible, try to stack the trails on top of each other for more damage and use Judgment and War Cry whenever they are available for the debuffs. Most of the danger in this fight comes from the tornados and sand swirls that she summons, so don’t be afraid of getting close to the boss.

Even enraged, she can’t ever catch up to you so if you need to wait out some cooldowns just keep kiting until you are ready to re-engage. Keep in mind that she has no leash however, and will follow you to the depths of hell itself, or at least back to the Conclave.

Crate of Entertainment

I would honestly suggest a different build if you're looking to kill Crate of Entertainment. It's technically possible, as shown in the Videos section, but without Mirror of Ereoctes or Nullification, the fight becomes more difficult as there is little room for error. Our devotions also make things difficult here since we have to choose between consistent RR in Assassin's Blade or damage procs in Shifting Sands.

If you’re really insistent on trying Crate with this build though, you can take a look at my other build guide which covers the fight in detail. Though some parts won’t be applicable, this build plays very similarly to Vanquisher and the general strategy is the same.

 
Videos

All runs were done deathless and without the use of any consumables other than Tonic of Mending. These videos should give you a rough idea of how to play the build against most fights, except for the Crate of Entertainment fight, which is there for your amusement.

SR 80 Full Timer

Ravager of Flesh

Callagadra, Scion of the Sands

Crate of Entertainment (Very Scuffed)

FAQs
Q: How does this build compare to Vanquisher?

A: On paper the stats of this build look much better. We can get up to 3000% Physical damage, 50% Physical resistance, and double RR from masteries to a better damage type. Comparatively, Vanquisher is usually a single RR mastery with 2000% Fire damage and only 30-40% Physical resistance.

In reality though, the damage and survivability of both builds are comparable, with Vanquisher coming out slightly on top. Aetherfire is better than Shifting Sands in terms of damage due to having no cooldown, and Maiven’s Sphere of Protection provides protection against all incoming damage, not just Physical. Vanquisher also has Mirror of Ereoctes, Nullification, and low cooldown circuit breakers which help the build deal with tougher enemies, while also being able to benefit from lifesteal due to the high damage on their initial Vire’s Might hit.

Prior to patch 1.1.9.2, the kill time for Ravager on this build was comparable to that of Vanquisher, while being slightly faster for Callagadra and worse for Crate of Entertainment. With armor now applying to converted Physical damage however, the build is a bit slower than before, and Vanquisher is now probably better in most cases. That being said, the build is still capable of handling pretty much all content in the game, and I would still recommend giving it a try, especially if you don’t have the full Vanquisher’s Set yet.


 
Q: Some pieces of your gear convert the Physical damage on Vire's Might to Fire/Lightning damage. Doesn't that ruin the build?

A: Most of the damage in this build comes from Volcanic Stride and Shifting Sands, not from Vire's Might itself. Since Volcanic Stride is a secondary skill, it is only affected by global conversions, and not by conversions to the Vire's Might's skill. Even if it were, the fire trail has no base Physical damage anyways, and damage cannot be converted twice.

Because we use so many items that convert the Physical damage on Vire’s Might, there is also no reason to put in more than 1/16 base points into the main skill, as nearly all of the damage will be converted away anyways.


 
Q: Do I need the affixes listed in the "Current Setup" link to beat endgame content? Are they the best affixes to use?

A: You do not need those specific affixes in order to beat endgame content. Generally speaking, as long as you can find a way to overcap your resistances while still maintaining at least 3k OA and decent Physical resistance, you should be able to tackle endgame content just fine. The affixes I have on the "Current Setup" link can be used as an example of what a realistic end-game setup might look like, where each MI is a single rare with mostly useful magic affixes.

Some of the MIs like Mark of Harvoul are biased towards their damage type, which makes it easier to roll desirable affixes on them. Keep in mind that the opposite is also true, so it can be difficult to get a of Ruin roll on a Zarthuzellan’s Archive for example.


 
Q: Wouldn't Aetherfire still be better than Shifting Sands, especially since the build has 50% Aether and 100% Elemental conversion?

A: In terms of damage, yes. The devotion pathing would be worse however as the build doesn't make use of green affinity, and so we would need to drop one of our T3 devotions in order to fit Imp into the build. Shifting Sands also covers a larger area and provides a bit of sustain through weapon damage as well.

Additionally, I had already used Aetherfire for the Vanquisher build, and so I wanted to try something different this time around. Feel free to play around with the devotions and use whichever one you prefer.

 
Credits & Changelog

Thanks again to Crate for making this game and for adding in Skybreaker Circlet, which both enables this build and makes skater leveling much, much smoother.

Changelog

  • 01/30/21 - Initial release.
  • 03/07/21 - Added Leveling section.
  • 04/03/21 - Updated for 1.1.9.1.
  • 05/15/21 - Added Advanced Mechanics section.
  • 11/07/21 - Updated for 1.1.9.2.
31 Likes

The real victory here is the character name

1 Like

i name it the most creative warlord ever.

8 Likes

Nice build! I was planning something similar but with https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/12678 instead. I guess the off-hand is too much value because you can stack the volcanic strides much quicker.

This is the pure masterpiece work, great job!

Absolutely amazing.

Hoho, thats a rarity to see such creative and powerful build (imo the best vire utilization), and such a beautiful topic figuration :sweat_smile:
Really nothing to creticize here.
Amazing job, gratz!

ps if you don’t mind, could you share save file in pm to try it in crucible please?

Thanks! I did try theorycrafting with that weapon for a bit, but Fire to Physical conversion is so difficult to get outside of Baldir set and it’s multiplicative with Elemental to Physical conversion so you wouldn’t even get to 100% either. You could also do the same build with Stonefist Rebuke, which actually has the CDR to Vire’s Might, but it has the same problem of being unable to get 100% conversion.

1 Like

Yeah that is true, with octavius chest and korvan spaulders and the steward weapon you get at most 88,8% volcanic dmg converted to phys/trauma

Thanks! I’m away from my save files at the moment but I’ll try to send it to you later tonight.

This is the funniest build I’ve seen so far

2 Likes

non-Vanquisher Skater ? :face_with_raised_eyebrow: heresy! :triumph:, Creed will have words :face_with_monocle:

Nice build, very creative! and Fakeuisher :rofl: Though the name of your character…
front-vert

And I even remember somewhere @Nery suggested make a Fire BA Commando named Joan of Arc and we laughed…

1 Like

Heh, yeah this was one of the first characters I made way back in the day. I bet you can guess what the build was. :wink: I hadn’t played it in quite some time though, so I figured I might as well respec it rather than level up a new character entirely.

i heard someone said “there is no creative in GD world at all, people only build base on what dev let them do in the 1st place”. anyone can confirm that Crate did think of this kind of build from the start please?
TL DR: 10000 likes for this build

2 Likes

Maybe, because the off-hand has massive +%physical damage bonus

I know I saw it but now I am looking for it I can’t find it. There was a snippet about what factions you would need or what to join especially for one of the set pieces of this build. Can someone illuminate what was said please.

1 Like

you need to side with order of death vigil so you can farm the helmet :slight_smile:

It is not a set piece btw, it is a monster infrequent that is core item of build to skate with very low cooldown

Okay I used set piece as its required I know its not a armor set piece like Krieg.

1 Like

This seems like an interesting build to play, I’ve been considering making a Skater build and this build has peaked my interest the most out of the others I’ve seen so far.

May I ask which affixes would you consider BiS for the MIs in the build? I’m trying to figure out which affixes to keep an eye out for.
Is “of Attack” considered better here than say “of the Drangonhoul” because of the additional OA? Also, isn’t “of Scorching” a redundant affix considering it’s mentioned that we’re dealing 100% Physical Damage? Wouldn’t “of Ruin” for instance play a much better role here? (Though at a glance I’m still not sure how the whole conversion works here to be honest…)

I’m trying to get a better grasp of the game mechanics to start doing these things on my own :slight_smile: