I am on Ultimate currently, and I cannot get my Aether resist over 20%.
I honestly can’t think of any gear I found with good Aether resist. The only reason I question it, is because I can get any resistance to 80 or more easily… but Aether, there is no way.
Any gear to look out for? Any tips? Makes fighting Aetherial-damage types super tedious.
I think I remember an augment that gives +15% aether resist. Is that the only way to do it?
Yeah, aether is scarce if you don’t use aether yourself. Generally it’s sort of a rule that, say, gear for poison user will have some poison resistance and everywhere else is pretty much nothing. My aertherfire sorcerer has >80% aether resists on ultimate, but only around 40% chaos. You could use some yellow rings with aether resists if you really want.
Avenger of Cairn - 58% Aether Resist +4% Maximum. I, however, got rolls on it from 63% to 55%.
Tips regarding the “Aether problem”:
If you are playing Ultimate Hardcore and don’t want to take any risk, always drink a Spiritbane potion before aether boses (e.g. The Herald, The Armory General, etc.) - I am not going to mention Anasteria 'cos nobody but desperate warlocks and sorcerers farm her.
Get you rep max with Anasteria and the Black Legion in Elite - the aether patches in Immolation/Conflagration can kill you in conjunction with aether tendrils if you have low Aether in Ultimate. That’s why you want to do those big rep quests there on Elite (where you can easily cap the resist ofc).
Real man don’t eat Aether Clusters (or drink health/ spirit potions) but…if you really need them - do the Immolation/Conflagration runs in Elite to pack on Aether Clusters and Shards.
Equip an Avenger of Cairn even if you are not a soldier when going in places like the Immolation.
Do not stand in the Aether patches if you are a Saboteur - even with 100% dodge you cannot dodge them.
Optimize you gear so you can kill the Aether Hulks in 1-2 hits max (i.e. 100k Shadow Strike and things like that). Sometimes, in crowded places like Fort Ikon, offense is the best defense.
Get a 2h ranged weapon to destroy the huge Aether Clusters without going on aether ground.
Get Outcast’s Bastion.
Do not stand still when facing ranged Fleshwarped Trolls - the aether grenades do a lot of damage.
and most important:
10) DO NOT eat Aether Clusters - it is cheating.
Aether is almost exclusively used by casters, and casters are as a result the only people who easily have innate aether resistance on gear.
Everyone else you either need to go for specialized rings (Purging modifier grants poison, aether, and chaos resistance IIRC, and you still have the second modifier which could be something very valuable like “Of Attack” for a really high roll of 120).
Honestly though, Rings are probably your best place to grab a lot of resistances without hurting your overall build much.
I just finished Log in Ulti on my max CDR spellbreaker build, and I’ve just been using rare resistance stat stick rings the entire time, one being a Dreadlord’s (Chaos resistance + attack conv to hp) and Purging. I am a caster, so I’ve been able to use a Shroud of Illusion I found which is giving me 50% aether resist as well, and as a result I’ve not once had an issue with my aether res. Chaos and Vitality has been giving me far more problems, and I actually didn’t even cap it until after my Log fight, where I got a really good ring (Lifegiver’s Signet) which I replaced my Dreadlord ring with while a Clarivoiant’s Mantle replaced my green shoulders. I lost like 1k dps on my primary dps, but got all of my resistances capped, and an added 1.4k hp in two items. More than worth.
It’s a matter of saving it up. I have enough Aether resist related items to raise it pretty high, and it’s almost all yellows with the occasional green. There are also several components that boost it.
I thought it was mostly agreed upon that Aether Resistance doesn’t work against the patches in Conflagration and the like?
Of course they don’t. Much in the same way you can have 94% acid and poison resistance and die in the pools of acid in Hargate’s Laboratory. Nothing protects you against environmental hazards except: (a) huge hp regen (>2500/sec); or (b) things like Mirror of Ereoctes.
However, in places like the Immolation you will find huge Aether Crystals that deal pure aether damage on top of contaminated ground. In Ultimate, those crystals will hit anywhere between 3k-6k. If you have low aether resist and you get a critical strike on top of aether ground you are basicaly dead. The ground kills you in the end, but it’s due to low aether resist.
Look at the builds presented on this site…the most popular ones have massively low aether resistances - that’s because most players avoid places such as the Immolation like the plague since the risks involved far outweight the benefits (e.g. crystals, clusters, occasional arcanist legendary gear, etc.)
I agree with the statement about whatever element you’re using, you’ll be almost immune against. My Druid has over 100% lightning resist. My Witch Hunter has over 90% poison resist. My Sorcerer has tons of fire resist… etc.
Spiritbane potions might be your best bet if you just need some temporary resists. If you have solid gear for your build and can clear easily, then you don’t need much defense except against some bosses. Keep a few high-Aether resist rings on hand for swap, some Spiritbane potions, and even an Avenger relic just in case. 20% is pretty low for Ultimate, but most builds won’t have every resist capped. I generally prefer to have at least poison and either Chaos or Aether above 50% for Ultimate since those three elements are the worst of the worst and the most abundant it seems.
During the course of leveling up I have found several items that have good Aether resistances, including the amulet. I keep several items in my last bag to boost my Aether or Chaos depending on what I’m doing. I can bump it up pretty high and not lose too much DPS.