Hey everybody! I wanted to have a chat regarding a build I’ve been working with lately. I’m finding it super-fun so far and wanted to share, but also wanted to see if anyone else has tried something like this and tested its end-game viability. I’ve made it to level 40 with it, and so far it’s been a breeze!
For a demonstration video and discussion, click over here!
The build I’ve gone for is a Conjurer (Shaman/Occultist) focusing primarily on bleeding damage. The basic notion of it is to use skills with good AOE/tick frequently and/or spammy skills. When we anchor Devotion skills to them that have a % chance to trigger on attack, basically what results is skills proccing all over the place! The way I’ve set up the skills are:
-Grasping Vines, with “Rend” Devotion skill tied to it
Grasping Vines is awesome, it ticks very frequently and has a decent AOE. In addition, the “Entangling Vines” skill on it means that enemies have a chance to get stuck in it, giving a higher chance for “Rend” to trigger. And “Rend” in of itself is a beast of an attack. It has a massive amount of bleed damage on it, and also debuffs enemy OA and bleeding resistance. When tied to Grasping Vines, you’re almost guaranteed that Rend triggers nearly every time.
-Devouring Swarm, with “Falcon Swoop” Devotion skill tied to it
Falcon Swoop is brutal! It has a pile of bleeding damage and several projectiles which take a % of weapon damage as well. To maximise use of the % weapon damage, I’m using a 2-handed weapon that aligns to the needs of the build, (as of level 40, best I’ve found is the Farmstead Liberator). It’s awesome because Devouring Swarm has no cooldown on it and is also a bleeding resistance debuff. It gets really nasty when combined with the damage and debuffs from Rend.
-Bloody Pox, with “Twin Fangs” Devotion skill tied to it
Initially, Bloody Pox was being used in combination with Falcon Swoop. But funnily enough, I found it the least effective of these three skills when it comes to proccing devotion skills. The tick and spread isn’t super fast, unfortunately. Honestly, it probably isn’t totally necessary in the grand scheme of things. However, I had to give using three triggered Devotion skills a try, so I’ve got “Twin Fangs” tied to it. It’s the proverbial “icing on the cake”, because the “Bat” constellation that has Twin Fangs supplies a good amount of %bleeding and %vitality damage. Also, Twin Fangs uses a % of weapon damage (again, using a 2-hander!) AND gives some attack damage converted to health, which helps with survivability.
Also, Bloody Pox in of itself can do decent bleeding damage, debuff enemy OA and the “Black Death” skill has a % chance to confuse enemies.
To top it all off, I’ve maxed “Curse of Frailty” for as much -%bleeding resistance as possible and to slow enemies down, making it easier to hit them with Grasping Vines and for Bloody Pox to spread.
So, yeah! That’s the plan and it’s working super well so far. The only minor problem I’m finding is that the % chance for these skills to trigger has a direct relationship with how many you can hit with the relevant attacks. It’s freaking awesome for clearing large packs. However, taking on a boss 1-on-1 can prove a little problematic. I’m currently trying to offset that with “Doom Bolt” and simply spamming all skills as much as possible. So far, it’s proving to work OK.
Has anyone else tried anything like this and if so, what’s been your experience? I’m finding it really fun and effective offensively, but I’m concerned that investing in so much of the offensive side of Devotion that I might leave myself short of resistances/survivability in the long run.
Any thoughts, experiences and suggestions are welcome 
Thanks!