This is a retarded thread, I know that. As such, allow me to appologize to the whole community before you flame me. However, I was curios if somebody else managed to solo Gladiator with an AAR build before ?! The reason I ask this is because it took me more than 60 minutes to do it and a s**tload of consumables (see picture for reference). Ergo, I think that AAR high-end items still need a serious look at because they suck compared to those that support CT.
I find the crucible to be harder for range builds on the one hand (harder to kite or get enemies lined up), and for mage on the other hand (spamming ability with no down time = mana problems), so ranged mage have a it the hardest in crucible in my experience
It’s actually the third time I do it, but it never was a walk in the park…on the contrary. I just wanted to prove that you can do it with a skill that, unlike CT, has no WD component and no omnidirectional nature.
If you look at the facts we know now that there is not one, not two, but actually three entirely different Warlock builds that can solo Gladiator…and ppl considered it one of the worst classes 2-3 months ago. This fact, however, should not lead us to believe that there are no inherent problems with high-end Warlock items.
Take the Black Flame set that I am using here, for example. The helm is atrocious. It is the only helm in the game that gives 0 resistances, meaningless +x skills and…more importantly… no ability to use (passively or actively) . There are, of course, other legendary helms with 0 resistances (e.g. Beastcallers, Winter King). These hoods, however, still offer some powerful abilities to make up for the fact that they have 0 resist.
The fact that I completed one of the most difficult challenges in the game without spending one single point into Sigil of Consumption - i.e. a skill that is directly buffed by the Black Flame set - should make the devs realize that the set is misguided. It should have never buffed Sigil or Destruction.
I tested my AAR+Elemental Balance Sorc too. At wave 150th I died by 2 Iron Maiden and 1 Fabius , then I quit :furious:
Yeah, it tooks very long time and AAR itself consume too much energy with less efficient than other skill. If it less efficient, I hope it will consume so much and can take big guy/bosses/nemesis down very fast too.
I understand you pain, m8. Caster armor has too low values => even if you stack physical resistance through other means and sources you will still feel enormous pain when the Iron Maiden charges you…
I would love to make a video but my fps drops so low in the Crucible when I try to record that is almost unplayable. If it were a CT build, that would not be a big problem. But with AAR, you have to watch 4-5 things simultaneously: mana consumption, b***h mobs that try to corner you, cooldowns, time left on buffs, etc. - so you need massive twitch reflexes. I’ll have to buy a new laptop first before I record in the Crucible.
The general struggle is vs. 2 x Fabius + Iron Maiden. It is the worst combination you can get with a caster due to the low armor values you find on gear that gives energy regen. This is also why I take the Golemborn Greaves and not some (otherwise massively superior) double rolled exalted treads.
I struggled to even complete the game with my AAR sorcerer and I think I had nearly 30 deaths. Aether hulks are really annoying for that one. I’m certainly never playing that character again, AAR is not my cup of tea. Of course I didn’t (don’t) have that set but I bet it does nothing to make AAR more fun.
It allows you to facetank and kill Mr. Fabius in 15 seconds (with no +% damage to humans, I might add). It also paints the screen in beautiful crimson and pink. Otherwise, it is indeed enormously hard to play and gear. A new player making an AAR build will probably irremediably hate the game with a passion.
At that time, my sorc’s AAR isn’t deadly to take down Mr. Fabius in 15 sec like “Avatar of the Dreeg” do. I also fix a lot of things after that, but still not forget that pain of those mage-killer nemesis. I bet if I’ve 15k hp but without >50% stun reduction I may not survive as well.(I can make it if I’ve good RNG at flash bang’s fumble attack)
I wear full iskandra gear(I’ve many procs for <40% HP to make me very durable for a short period, and the bonus from full set is very good too). At last, 2 iron maiden & a fabius kick me out terribly (I didn’t get green blessing due to i’m out of tribute points)
Avatar of Dreeg, could you send a grimcalc of the build with a sentence or two of explanatuion. I would like to see how you made your build and what skills you focused on.
OFF + Voidsteel gauntlets provide radial damage, as well as Flame Torrent (assigned to AAR). These allows you to decrese mana consumption on AAR and leech energy through FT. Agrivix’s Malice also provide radial coverage.
A Stalwart Bloodsworn Vestment of Potency covers the low DA + Energy issues;
An Aetherfire Gollus ring of the owl allows you to cap Aether resist and boosts residual fire + aether damage that is not converted to chaos by the Black Flame set.
Chaos strike allows you to jump from mob to mob in order not to get cornered.
Anyway, man…it is still a trash build IMO. Finishing the Crucible has more to do with playing smart and puting the 4-set ability at the intersection of the Stonewall + Vanguard banners. Also, I advice you to play on Crucible of the Sands, because that is pretty much the only map topography that favours AAR and allows you to create choke points.
Thx man, I’ll try it and maybe see if i can modify it a bit to my style. I doo agree that black flame needs some love. And some incenitve to either use sigil, or change the boosted skills of the set. And and armor piece with strong def stats (health, %armor…) would be nice (Black flame is the only lvl75 legend set with no armor piece)
Also, I can see your pain. The build seems a little patched together from all kinds of different damage types and items. It doesnt coherently make a neat build. I really hope they make some adjustments in the next patch.
I do have two questions.
I can’t decipher what is FT short for regarding energy leeching?
How did you setup devotion? Did you focus on any tier 3 constellation? Did you focus mainly on defence (behemoth, targo???)
The build is not “patched together” with different damage types. That is a deliberate choice determined by 2 factors:
Chaos resistance mutators in the crucible - these are painful and you will get swarmed by Harbingers if you focus only on Vit/Chaos.
Incapacity to stack -% chaos resistance reduction. Highest chaos resistance reduction is found on items like the Harbinger crossbow, the Shattered Souls Amulet of Dreeg, Necrosis, Exterminus, etc… All these items are bad for a Warlock (not to mention impossible to incorporate into an AAR build). When I could make a caster build around the Harbinger Set in 1.0.0.4. I did - and it was one of the most OP builds ever that destroyed the Mad Queen in 4 seconds. Unfortunately, you can’t stack -% chaos resistance like you can stack -% physical or acid/poison.
Now, to answer your questions:
FT = Flame Torrent. It will proc ad infinitum when assigned to AAR and carries a Weapon Damage Component that will energy leech and energy burn.
Tier 3 = Dying God - all points except the proc that will kill you very fast. Behemoth is insufficient. You need Behemoth + Targo + a fail-safe mechanism.
, then I quit :furious:
(I didn’t get green blessing due to i’m out of tribute points)