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Been a long time since I leveled a pblades character, but I would say it’s okay for ultimate which is about as good as it gets with random ass gear :stuck_out_tongue:

Definitely go spellbreaker for devastation to help with boss kills and a bit more aoe. The skill cost reduction from arc is nice as at really high levels pblades with modifiers overmaxed too uses a shit load of mana. The best variant of pblades at the moment is using warpfire (converts most cold to fire) and chaos->aether conversion (2 albrecth’s duality rings or clairvoyant should/chest+1x ring). There is a lot of aether/fire gear that works well for this build and it makes great use of the reckless power aura. So when you find or trade for those items you will be a beast!

I’ve tried a ton of pblades variants from vit hunter to vit/bleed trickster and they all fall short of the double conversion pblades. Even if pblades itself did more with these builds you’d be losing devastation which sucks. Mana costs are a big issues for non sorc builds too if you ever get the gear to hugely overcap the skill line

Any viable links? Are the ones in the compendium still usuable?

Very Ultimate viable, fun to play.

Do as TomoDak suggested and go spellbreaker, without exception, unless you want to regret your choices later on.

If you want a link there’s mine:

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42210

Pretty short guide, but you should find all the info you want, or else just ask for clarifications.

Saboteur would work as well.

Ulzuin’s Wrath and Flashbang are pretty good for putting mobs out of combat. If I had to make a PB build I would go chaos+vitality plus anything elemental and a blood orb of Ch’thon.

I found a build here seems doing well in 1.0.0.4 but now sure in 1.0.0.5.:
(http://wikiwiki.jp/gdcrate/?Builds%2FExample%2FSpellbreaker%2F03)

You build seems a bit better than that one. Can you face tank Fabius with your build in 1.0.0.5?

Saboteur definitely works as thats what I use, but Spellbreaker is stronger build thanks to Devastation (easily still the most overpowered skill in the game)

EDIT123dsadsadsa

I’ve tried every version of PB, and the spellbreaker is the stronger one. You can make other combo work as well, but if you goal is just to use PB, why one should not take the best option?

Devastation can make a huge difference, especially with a Warpfire on the main hand.

That PB on the korean site is just like mine, only geared differently. From 0.4 to 0.5 i haven’t noticed any major nerfing on this build, so if you can read korean (!!!) go on, maybe the author had some nice ideas I haven’t.

In the end, its a pretty awesome build to play, and easily in the top 10 if played correctly.

Maybe I should attach my save file somewhere so you guys can try what I’m speaking about???

Well, it’s actually Japanese. I can read Japanese, tho… :stuck_out_tongue:

For you build, if it’s 2 A-rings, would it be better to avoid the chaos dmg modifier and get more Aether dmg modifier to increase dmg output??

Yes. You can easily reach 100% conversion, meaning the chaos damage is worthless to amplify.

I’m running the build atm, my stat priorities are…

  1. Casting speed. You can cap it pretty easily, between Warpfire, Iskandra’s Tome, Reckless power, and a few other sources of casting speed, so once capped shift priority elsewhere. You don’t even need casting speed gloves or amulet to max it out.
  2. Fire damage. You do more fire than Aether damage by a fair margin, and is worth more to amp as a result. My current build, during Iskandra’s Relic uptime, can break +2000% fire damage, and I don’t even have a lot of my things yet.
  3. +ranks to base Phantasmal Blades. It isn’t powerful on it’s own, but if you can get all 10 extra Pblade ranks, it is the highest DPS increase you can get in your build. Your goal will be to try and max it out, because P-blades gains a MASSIVE power spike at the final rank, going from 1.45 weapon damage per throw to 1.8, getting it’s final blade for 6 blades per throw. Pretty much the only way you will do this is a Badge of Mastery, which can give you +5 Phantasmal Blade ranks if you get a good craft on it. It’s also pretty much BIS anyway, even without that, so don’t feel like you are gimping yourself just to get that +5 Pblade ranks. From here, you will need another 5 points. You have to decide if you want to run Iskandra’s set with 2 Albertch Duality rings, (Massive durability up, more raw elemental damage, which you are converting into more fire overall, better Aether damage by far), or piecemail the stuff with a lot of other legendaries/MIs to try and get that +10. Its a tough call, and far harder to get a perfectly set up Pblades than just about any other skill, because so few things grant ranks to P-blades.
  4. OA. You get insane amounts of crit damage amp, on par with a Shaman building around crit damage for Stormcaller’s Pact (No, seriously, your crit is mad high with this build, because the perfect fire devotion path grants 32% crit damage, Peerless Eye of Benorath has about 10% crit damage, or Iskandra set has 16% crit damage (You can’t get both), Elemental Balance grants 25% before overlevels, and the Iskandra’s Relic proc grants 30% for the duration. My crit damage gets into the 2.3 range fairly frequently, and I don’t have some of the other OA boosters yet, so I could probably hit 2.5x crits at a 25% crit rate once I hit full build)

Anyway, here is what I would consider a perfectly set up build, item wise. Note, the ultimate goal is +10 Phatasmal blade ranks from any sources you can get. If you can’t get this, just ignore Pblade rank ups, and focus on more general power, as P-blades has REALLY bad overleveling unless you can get the perfect 10 points over. They don’t really need all of the specialty Pblade gear until you can swap it all in at once, because almost all of the power is in that final Pblade rank. For comparison, rank 16 Pblades only does .2 less weapon damage per throw (Not per dagger, per entire cast of the skill) than rank 25 Pblades. The final rank grants you an extra dagger, which is .3 weapon damage by itself, an extra .01 weapon damage for the other 5 blades (totaling a .25 weapon damage per cast increase), and that extra dagger also enables an entire extra cast of the Nether Edge blade damage as well, and rank 25-26 is at the absolute minimum a 20% DPS upgrade from rank 25. From rank 16-26 is about a 40% DPS increase roughly, with almost all of that damage increase being in the final rank.

Ideally Iskandra Hood, Vestiments, and Tome or Iskandra’s Hood, Tome, and Pauldrons. These get you the insane physical resistance from the Iskandra set, and the IEE ranks are actually very powerful on a Pblades build, because every throw of Pblades can deal up to 1.8x your weapon damage if you manage to get all of the ranks for maxed out P-blades. Hint, you have a LOT of weapon damage. Secondary options include Korvan’s Chestguard, Clarivoyant’s Hood, and Tome of Arcane Waste, but trust me, you want the Hood, Vestiments or Pauldrons, and Tome. You just do.

Warpfire dagger. Not much else will compete here, it’s just so good for what you need. You may just well not want to make a build based on this without it. Even more important than the 2x Duality rings (Although you probably want at least 1 ring as well for the build). Then again, Warpfire is so powerful it makes a lot of builds that probably shouldn’t be viable, very viable, just because Fire is so much more powerful a damage type than cold is in this game.

Good modifier Moosilki shoulder guards, the one with +3 P-blades. Note, that if you can get a Nightblade’s one, with +1 Pblades, this is BIS without a doubt, even without another good modifier on the suffix, just because it opens up an entire item slot for another BIS rather than having to squeeze in a +1 all Nightblade elsewhere. Iskandra Shoulders are a solid second place, and open up using the Iskandra’s Focusing Prism in the amulet slot (More on this later on).

Boots are fairly flexable, I’m personally using Golemborn Greaves, which have really good synergy with the full Iskandra set, which is always a good option if you don’t have other parts you need to amp up Pblades to max rank. Footpads of the Grey Magi and Wraithwalkers are also good options. You can also just use generic crafted boots for resistance stat sticks, which are better than Golemborn Greaves while the proc is inactive, although Golemborn Greaves are better for the duration of the proc if you got the full Iskandra set.

Wraithborn Legwraps are pretty much the best legs you can get. Some of the best OA rolls in the game are on them, +ranks for Reckless Power, Two resistances you really need, just everything says “Use these”. Maybe a perfectly rolled Dreeg-Sect leg guard could compete. Maybe. Not sure. And even then using that you loose out on the proc, which is just so powerful to get a 2 second knockdown on a 3 second CD, that effects most champion mobs.

Gloves. I personally just love using the Elite Harvest Grips, and use them on most of my builds. You have mad crit damage in this build, so the highest OA stat stick in the game for your gloves is a VERY good option, and the stats are really helpful as well. The fact that you pretty much automatically get these is a bonus. FYI, perfect rolls for the OA on it are 120 flat OA, 3 percent OA.

Rings. Obviously, both should be Albertch’s Duality if you can. Try to make sure the rolls between both add up to 100% if you can, but it’s fairly likely they will automatically. Alternatives are Signet of the Fallen, Screams of the Aether, and Band of the Eternal Haunt as your second ring, but you at the very least need 1 Albertch’s Duality to enable the first conversion of some of the Chaos damage on Nether Edge into Aether.

Belt. If you have the P-blades maxed out from other sources, or not bothering going through all of the work to try and max P-blades, Phantom Thread Girdle is the best option here. Else, use Spellbreaker’s Waistguard or Blade Breaker Sash if it will max out P-blades.

Amulet and Relic. I am pairing both of these, because taking one will effect the other choice. Option 1, Iskandra’s Focusing Prism + Nemesis or Belgothian’s Carnage. This gets you the 4 piece set bonus for Iskandra’s set, which is +2 Arcanist, and a +1 to Nightblade. It also gets you CDR, of which 33% is a very valuable breakpoint if you can get more than that. Option 2, Peerless Eye of Beronath (Or just about any +1 all skills amulet can work), and Iskandra’s Relic. Gets you the same +2 Arcanist, +1 Nightblade, although a different stat set, with more OA and crit damage, but less IEE ranks and no Iskandra’s Focusing Prism proc. I don’t know how worth it the proc is, so it’s hard to say. I’d say if you are not going for max overlevel on Pblades, you could go for both Iskandras focusing prism and Iskandra’s relic too.

Medal BIS is a +5 Phantasmal Blades Badge of Mastery. If you don’t have this, it is pretty much impossible to hit a perfect 26/16 Phantasmal Blades. Build can work without +10 extra Pblade ranks, but it massively changes gear priority if you can’t max it in the first place, because all of the power in overleveling Pblades is that final rank. Solid second place would be Black Star of Deceit.

I will say this. All of the stuff I’m talking about? You don’t need it. You can get by just fine on mostly average gear. But stuff like this lets you do things standing perfectly still while just tanking Log damage (I have like a 30 second log kill, nowhere near full BIS, standing still doing nothing but casting blades, not even dodging log’s skills. Only other thing I did was use OFF and Devistation on CD, and turned on the adds every few seconds to get rid of them after 10+ spawned because I was being a lazy shithead and not doing the Log fight the proper way and actually dodging his stuff.). The build works fine even without all of the madness, so long as you have the two main turn-ons for it, Warpfire and at least 1 Duality ring.

How playable is PB as a self-found character? This means no easy on-hand source of damage conversion, so I’d imagine the devotion setup would need to be completely redone as well to not tend to aether/fire damage?

I’d say its a bit hard to do as a first character for ultimate, but if you have the two major turn on items for it, Warpfire and at least 1 Duality Ring, it’s perfectly viable for a mostly self-found character, and both of these items are fairly “common” as far as legendaries go, and you can farm for Warpfire in Elite. Note, you can’t even use the Duality ring till level 75, and I got there just fine, just as you can’t use Warpfire till 65. It just is a major power amp for mid to late game ultimate once you can put both of them on, because you have a lot of flat Aether damage anyway coming out of Reckless Power, and your cold damage is still ok even with a focus on fire devotions.

On the devotions, I actually found using all the fire devotions didn’t hurt me too much early game, so don’t worry about having to do a devotion swap half way through. I do say go for Blind Sage first, then Torch, as Sage has a bit more general power and is less focused on pure fire which you might not yet be doing all the conversions for.

That PB uses Haunt. This relic has -30% Life Leech Resistance (and -15% Aether, -15% Vitality) and has good synergy with Heart Seeker.
Because of this combination, that PB can face tank Fabius.
Could you try your PB with Haunt?

Thanks mate!

So much information, you guys are awesome!

@ETK you are totally right, and that is the way i’m following when i’m free from work, and if your build is truly the best then i’ll naturally end becoming it, still doesn’t hurt to learn about other combinations and setups, it helps me learn more about the game since i’m not that great :slight_smile:

@Steelflame so while progressing just invest in elemental and fire damage since they yield the best results and only think seriously about swapping around for + levels if i could get the gear to level the skill to 26?

I haven’t said my build is the “best”, but that spellbreakers are the “best” class to play a PB build.

I have wrote that simple guide as an “introduction” to new players that want to use such a skill, and I honestly think that any “veteran” of this forum can found a way to do it better than i have…

Still, I can guarantee that my build is at least “competitive” with others top-tier builds, and that is very fun to play…

PS> About that “Haunt” relic, as I’ve said in other thread, all my char seems to leech finely with just Acid Spray, so I really want a DEFINITIVE answer to this:

ACID SPRAY reduce AdctH resistance?

My evidence say yes, but maybe my game is bugged…

EDIT: just tried with Haunt and no Acid Spray… There’s almost no difference. I can facetank with both, or with just one of the two, pretty much anything short of the Queen and Shar’zul in burst mode. And with Haunt I lose the Agrivix’s proc.

Yes, it does.

Sir Nine, are you 100% sure?

Because there’s a guy who reported that Zentai answered with a NO to such question… So you can understand why I’m so hesitant to still promote AS as a way to help your build leech more, even if my experience says as you confirmed.

Yea. Pblades has terrible returns on overlevels, and infact has terrible returns on even base levels of it. The only real points in time it’s worth increasing the level of P-blades is when you can get it to jump to a power point, which is when you get another blade on it. This means level 8 and 16, and then 26. I generally get it to level 8 around the middle of normal, maxing out Heartseeker first, get a few points in Nether Edge before more ranks in P-blades, then max both. Note that during this entire time, I’ve been pumping tons of points into Arcanist, having grabbed OFF and maxed it, a point in mirror, 3 in maivens, and max out Reckless Power pretty much the moment I get Warpfire.

For most of the early game, you are mostly doing vitality damage, and I’d recommend grabbing Bat devotion, and focus on vitality gear, and remove it once you get Magi and Lantern both. It’s really nice in the early game, at the point in time where most of your damage is vitality, bleed, and pierce, but falls off quite hard later into the game as you just are not focusing on that stat combo.