I’m a brand new player and am currently building a DW Pierce/Cold Spellbreaker. However, I’m having a little trouble finding advice since some balance changes were just made and the more prominent CDR/Shadow Strike spec was nerfed.
Currently focusing heavily on Shadow Strike for mobility & single target and Ring of Steel (Ring of Frost) for AOE. I also picked up Flash Freeze to weave in between Ring of Frosts for some pretty solid crowd control.
So far it seems to work pretty well (Veteran ~lvl 25), but from what I understand Freeze will become significantly less reliable at higher levels/difficulty.
I understand that with my first build probably won’t be able to compete with something more refined at the highest difficulties and I’m mostly OK with that. Just looking for some general advice on how to stretch this general framework as best possible without hitting a wall or requiring too much specific gear.
Some other generation questions to go with this:
Should I ditch Ring of Frost and just spec further into the tree to use Nightfall for AOE? (seems like Ring of Steel isn’t used much, but it was also just buffed in the last patch)
Is it worth speccing all the way down the Arcanist tree for Star Pact?
How much should I be investing in the top row of the Nightblade tree? Are these procs worthwhile if I’m speccing heavily into SS/RoS?
What are my best options for survivability talents?
Any buff/debuff talents I should be looking at to augment my damage?
I’m just now starting to run into issues with Energy generation. Any skills I should seek out to help with that?
I’m currently speccing toward the Leviathan constellation in the devotion tree. Anything else I should be looking at?
Any general advice regarding this build or generic advice for a new player would be greatly appreciated.
i currently level a DW SB as well, nearing Fort Ikon in Veteran, lvl 40. i don’t use RoF because i find it redundant with OFF, which has a much better radius. i also reach the top of the NB tree to grab Execution and Nightfall.
the idea is to jump in a pack of mobs with Nigtfall, then freeze them, then shred them. Execute and SS works well against bosses, in conjonction with Night’s Chill and Elemental Storm (Rhowan Crown’s devotion) for resist reduction. PB and Mirror for survivability.
for the moment kill speed is insane but i start to invest massively in physique cause my health pool is very low. didn’t die yet but sometimes it was close :eek:
Amatok seems hard to bypass in a cold build so i’d say yes. but Ultimate may require more defensive options, so i still have to test it. veteran spellbreakers will probably answer that before though
Trying to weave in both Blizzard and Whirlpool in addition to elemental storm or acid spray for resistance reduction.
Elemental storm is easier to fit in, but I’m not sure if acid spray is better because of the longer duration.
Regarding ring of steel/frost… I was under the impression that circle of slaugther’s fumble chance is really good for heroes/bosses. Though I’m not sure if it works properly on them.
I don’t think Amatok is worth it for a build like this. You need to pick up another Primordial devotion to get it, the proc isn’t that good, and it doesn’t give you any flat cold damage. The duration on Elemental Storm/Acid Spray doesn’t matter when the cooldown is 1.5/1 second(s), respectively. Also, the storm lasts for 5 seconds, which applies a debuff for 2 seconds every time it ticks.
Circle of Slaughter is great for heroes and bosses. The fumble chance does work on them, but I’m not sure if there is a reduced duration.
This is a build that will feel very point starved without +skills. In general though, you want dual blades maxed and all your wps procs at 5. If you have Belgothians Carnage then Shadow Strike is a good investment. Put one point in Blade Spirit to proc Whirlpool. On the Arcanist side Inner Focus and Elemental Balance are very good ideas. Depending on how tanky you already are, you can max Maiven’s or leave it at 3. If you have trouble with large groups of mobs then keep OFF where it is, if not then you can drop some points. Circle of Slaughter isn’t a bad idea either.
That looks like a good devotion setup for a cold/pierce combo. I’m still only level 45, so will respec to it when i can pick up more of the devotion abilities.
Another thing… Is it possible to assign devotion abilities to the summon/pet you get from the nemesis relic?
One issue i forgot regarding the Cold and pierce convertion combo…
Pierce conversion does only appear on weapons right? Lets say I have to weapons with 25% pierce on them. Am I correct if i assume that its no point to get more than 50% total physical to cold conversion?
If I am wrong, how does pierce and cold work together so to speak.
From testing I’m pretty sure other conversion works first, then pierce conversion comes in to convert the REMAINING physical portion.
For a weapon, let’s say with 100 physical damage with 25% pierce for example…
With Iskandra’s (30% to element), reckless power (15% to aether), and let’s say a shard of beronath (10%) and a converter affix amulet (10%) you’d have 65% physical conversion to other things…
so only 25% of the remaining 35 weapon damage would be dealt as pierce, in other words a measly 8.75 damage.
btw if you use swords, a constellation bonus can convert 100% to pierce.
I’ve made a dual wield cold spellbreaker before and glass cannon was an apt description for him… his equipment has pretty low armor for a melee class so he cannot tank at all–if a big boss hits him twice with his skills off, he dies.
As far a offense goes, dual wield damage with shard of beronath is good as always, and Blade spirit works wonders with leviathan constellation’s whirlpool, and mirror of ereoctes gives him 3 full seconds to hit things. Blade barrier to help in tight spots, allowing mirror to come back on CD.
Maxed star pact and -cooldown gear can turn him almost invincible as long as he doesn’t get stunned… the spellbreaker is the only class with TWO innate invulnerability skills pair this with a mark of divinity and you have a character that doesn’t really take damage at all with care. Shame aeon’s hourglass constellation is on a completely different route (red + blue) whereas your cold+pierce damage lies in (pink + green) otherwise I think with aeon’s hourglass he’d REALLY be invincible. Relic I use nemesis but I think the upgrade to belgothian’s carnage might be worthwhile assuming you can crit.
Max OFF is enough for CC… with + skill pts and -cd flash freeze will freeze longer than its CD, meaning that you will never find a normal enemy that can hit you. Ring of frost is totally unnecessary.
I would like to advise you to focus on one of damage types - either pierce or cold. I haven`t tested it myseldf but a lot of players give up from Unknown Soldier, because it does not worth the investment.
Have a look at my build for DW Spellbreaker (i focused on cold damage for example)
If you decide to go for cold damage Iskandras Elemental Exchange is a must have because of the convertion of physical to elemental damage. Combine DW cold damage with Viper and Rhowans Crown constellation for resist reduction and your damage will be “kicked in the skies”. Also I am not fond of going for entirely pure offensive constellations - consider adding Behemoth and Chariot of the Dead. Also put 1 point in Blade Spirit for constant devotion skill proc.
Still only Level 59, so I’n not dead set on any build or devotion setup yet. Just trying out different stuff, and recently added a point in blade spirit With Whirlpool Attached to it. Kill speed increased further after that.
