First of all I want to thank you very very much for the steady updates. That is always exciting for me to read the patchnotes to find new things that could be used to optimize a build. I really look forward to every patch!
Today I was visiting the forum and saw that Version 1.1.7.2 was released. Awesome I thought. I started reading the patch notes and thought first of all… Hmm… Nothing that affects my build. OK fair enough… I had read further. And then. Oh after a bit more translation for me I saw the following change: Added Physical to aether damage conversion to Warden’s Judgement. Ouch! That hit hard my most favourite build. This is the GrimTools Link to the build: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/wV1rpoDZ
I know that this build is far away from being perfect or very optimal. But it works really good for me and I am still triying to optimizate it. My best build so far and Ultimate mode is just an easy walkthrough. I am aware of the fact that this build has some unoptimal conversions but I tried to convert as much as possible to Vitality and Chaos. That worked quite well I need to say with this unconvential build.
But this change of conversion to Aether hurts hard for this build. I have played it some minutes ago and the build does really feel less strong. The build is not really weak but I can feel the difference and I would say it is really not that strong anymore.
So I thought. Come on, do not only complain. Try to understand the change and make a suggestion. I went through the item database and checked if I could find a good alternative. Although I need to say I did this so often that I did not really estimated a good alternative weapon for my build. And I have not found any…
So I wanted to give you that feedback and would like to add a suggestion:
As I have heard that people would like to have exactly this kind of conversion for Arcanist Pet builds I would like to suggest to add this type of conversion to something else like a skill for instance. Manifestation I thought would fit as Arcanist Skill.
So to add something completely different For my build would fit physical to chaos conversion for pets on this weapon or elemental to chaos. A change to that would be really nice as well. But this is more a personal wish as I think not many players use a pet build like this and a change like this would affect to many others in a probably not so positive way.
Nevertheless. Thank you very much for the steady updating. It is really nice! And a probable change to mentioned conversion would be highly appreciated.
Not to be rude but have you thought about trying new gear pieces in place of the Warden’s Judgment?
Veilpiercer is the first one that comes to mind looking at your character as it keeps the +1 to Skeletons, adds more pet damage and attack speed and the +3 to Will of the Crypt can either be put back into hardcapping Raise Skeletons to 26/16 or to soften the flat damage loss from +2 IEE/22 Aether damage.
Would be a good alternative… and I have checked my stash Characters right away. But I do not have it. The Will of Crypt skill plus would be awesome! That is what the build is missing right now.
I have played another round now and probably I am getting used to the change or I don’t know. The difference does not feel huge anymore. I would say it is just a tiny bit less strong. But I have not tried another Nemesis yet.
Generally, it’s not the wisest to try and use two damage types, especially with a class that provides no RR like the Arcanist does. Since Vitality damage is already viable, I wonder what the angle is in only providing 50% Physical to Aether, assuming the devs are hoping for a 50/50 Aether / Vitality split? What does Aether / Vitality do that good old Vitality doesn’t do better, especially as there are multiple pet items that convert Elemental to Vitality?
Is the worry making the Skeletons a single type with Necro RR that could be combined with another class for some broken results? When you’re forced to mix Aether with Vitality, it just seems to be a bit of dead weight - at least the Aether / Lightning pet build I recently focused was built around 100% conversions (Elemental to Aether and Vitality to Lightning, respectively). There are other pet weapons that give 100% conversion, such as the Physical to Fire burning-blade, and yet I don’t see Skeletons roaming around breaking everything. Dual-wielding these things for the 100% just accomplishes nuking your CDR potential and ruining your chances of using skills and devotions with low uptime - like Giant’s Blood.
I admit, I’d like to see both the Aethereach gloves and Warden’s Judgment to give pet %Aether bonuses in addition to the flat damage. I don’t see this weapon as being too useful, and considering how hard it was to make a Crucible-viable Ritualist focusing on full Vitality, I don’t see Aether pets having much of a chance at succeeding.
I think what was missing is the chance to make a real good Aether Pet build. So they have choosen exactly that weapon because from the story line it fits as best solution.
In another thread they are starting to figure out a possible build for Aether Pets. I can remember one thread from Maya that she would like to see this kind of conversion as well. Not really long ago… I think the combination for Skellies and Aether is challenging. I do not see it right now. And this wepaon is normally more helpful for Skellies and your own character. So this item will be a possible solution for either Skelly builds or Pet builds that need more Aether conversion. A bit tricky to implement in my opinion
Nevertheless… The RR for Pet builds comes in my example from the devotions and not from the Arcanist class… And there are multiple things to choose. So I do not worry about RR for my build at the moment.
After several attempts of trying to figure out how this new feature can be implemented to my build I am still at the point I was at the very first beginning: Please remove this new feature or change it to conversion to chaos resp. elemental. or vitality. I do not see the use yet. But probably I am blind.
But what shall I say. My build is so weird and has so many conversions that it does not really change to much.
My build has for physical damage conversion the following conversions:
40%/60% Phys -> Vitality
2x 33% Phys -> Chaos
45% Phys -> Elemental
25% Phys -> Vitality
31% Phys -> Vitality
in total
100% Phys -> Vitality
45% Phys -> Elemental
66% Phys -> Chaos
And now additional this one:
50% Phys -> Aether
So… It is more a weird build that works much better then expected! I am still happy. But I do not want to say it was a “stupid” decision to add this feature to the weapon only because I do not see the possible solution for Aether Skellies… That is more than not being respectful to the devs. They do the great job!
What shall I say. One thing is very important for me to add. This kind of MI weapon is wonderful, as I can farm it quick and easy and there are so many possible nice combinations (Pre/Suffix) for this MI weapon that it was a big fun for me to farm it. But this new conversion… Hmm… Let’s see it positive. It is a green item that can have 7 additions for pets That is rare
Could you please help me a bit? Just for my understanding, as I am still struggling a bit when it comes to the RR technique.
Reduced target’s resistances for x seconds
This is related to all resistances of the target, or? If so then it makes sense to have a build that uses more then 1 main damage type. This is my view at the moment.
And some pet builds have different damage types if you want to have a colorful mix of many different Pets.
I really need to add 1 thing. I have checked many bosses @ GrimTools to see which kind of resistances they have. I have seen that most bosses have only a low percentage of Chaos resistance. Mostly under 15%. So I think it is very wise to go for Chaos damage as much as possible. That is why I have tried to change my build, in a very late stage of the game, to convert damage to chaos. I thought it will benefit a lot from the change.
The forums have multiple mechanics guides that better illustrate it than I can, but the main gist of it is that you want to have as many “-X% Type Resistance” through your skills, devotions, and items as possible. Necromancer has Spectral Wrath, which takes away “-30% Physical Resistance, -35% Vitality Resistance, and -35% Aether Resistance” when the ability activates. To effectively use Aether pets, you’d combine Spectra Wrath with the Widow constellation, which also has “-35% Aether Resistance.” Any RR ability with the -X% designation stacks with each other, so using Spectral Wrath + Widow means that the enemy’s resistance is reduced by 70%.
Additionally, you can combine these with any “X% Reduced Target Resistances.” For devotions, that means taking something like Manticore + Bysmiel’s Command or Rhowan’s Crown (for Elemental builds). Manticore has the highest RR value, taking away 28 reduced resistances, and that stacks with the -X% Aether damage above. Overall, that gives you a total of 98% Aether RR that can take a monster like Valdaran from 97% Aether Resistance to 0%. Once you fight something like the Eldritch Nemesis Kaisan, which has 60% Resistance to all types, you can recognize why focusing on one type of RR is much more effective than smattering different damage types.
That helps me very much to go on finetuning the build. I think I will probably focus a bit more on Spectral Wrath, as I already have Manticore, Bysmiels Command & Rhowans Crown. So the RR IS REAL
Very interesting is the Widow constellation. Additional to this I want to try the Eldritch fire. What shall I say. This game is again more fun when you think about new things for your build that already exists since several 100 hours. So I am looking forward to the new evening when I have time to play
Thank you again @thepowerofmediocrity for the perfect explanation. That really helps me a lot to think about my build again. Thank you thank you
For my build would fit physical to chaos conversion for pets on this weapon or elemental to chaos. A change to that would be really nice as well. But this is more a personal wish as I think not many players use a pet build like this and a change like this would affect to many others in a probably not so positive way.
That is rare