Hey,
Since I don’t like to GDStash new builds I’m fairly selective about what I play, because it involves levelling to 100 from scratch and therefore requires quite a bit of time investment.
I’ve stockpiled some items that I reckon will make a fairly fun and unique character - a 50/50% Acid/Vitality gunner build using Radaggan’s set and the Watcher of Erulan shield.
‘Fairly fun’ because a) I’ve never done a gun-and-shield build, b) I’ve never made extensive use of Sigil of Corruption and/or Ravenous Earth, and c) It’s cleanly itemised for bucketloads of RR via Aura of Censure and active skills.
There are two clearly definable builds that the Radaggan set supports - Apostate (Inq/Nec) and Deceiver (Inq/Occ). I’ve pre-built both options in GrimTools - as I said it’s not as simple as just trying both out, as I create all my characters from scratch with no GDStash.
Apostate build : https://www.grimtools.com/calc/qNYkwWXV
Deceiver build : https://www.grimtools.com/calc/a2E6XabV
My concern is that I’m pretty sure Apostate will be more fun to play (less piano and more shooting), but Deciever seems to beat it out in almost every empirical measurement.
While many of the attributes (RR, OA, DA, etc) are too close to call, Deciever has superior:
- Physical Resist - at least 10% more (yes I know GC doesn’t correctly show the PR from Watch of Erulan but still its about 10% diff.
- Sheet damage on default weapon hit - 50% more (~7.9k vs ~4.8k)
- Attack Speed
- Health Regen
- Acid % damage
- Vit % damage
- 30% of total Acid RR applied by skill rather than on-Hit (via CoF rather than Spectral Wrath) so more reliable uptime.
Meanwhile, what Apostate has going for it over Deceiver is:
- 30% incoming Damage Reduction
- More health
- Simpler playstyle.
- 100% default attack procs rather than ~60%
- Points spread less thinly so can max Inquisitor Seal and Deadly Aim.
So, a question for those who have more experience than me : Is the 30% DR, additional 40% attack procs and beefier Inquisitor Seal and Deadly Aim, good enough to consider using Apostate over all the advantages of Deceiver? I am hoping so, because the Piano playstyle and skill theme of Deceiver just don’t appeal to me as much.
Thanks for any advice.