Link to build: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/dVb4aQgN
I decided to write a new guide instead of editing my old one as the response to my first post gave me a lot more insight into how to better improve my soulrend breaker.
As usual, the actual guide will begin after the block of red text which is my preface. However, I would urge the reader to give it a quick glance through as it does explain the logic to my madness.
HUGE thanks to: Heatwave, Cryoo, Marzuk, Colasson, Jet Pogi, Burger, Chthon, Superfluff, mad_lee, uuujiiib. The advice/help I received is worth more than my stonehide stoneplate of kings. (But y’all crazy if you think Imma give that shit to you. :p)
Goals of the build:
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Solo crucy no buffs, consumables, etc. (from hereon, I’m going to term this as doing crucible ‘naked’) - word of advice, play assuming that anything that can IS going to one-shot you. The only time you should ever take that gamble of letting say kuba swipe at you without mirror is if you’re forced into a horribad position.
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To do the above in as item independent a manner as possible
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Deviate away from the meta of hit-'n-run frostburn, SS focused breakers.
Clearance rate:
- Is about 30-40% I would say. However, do not confuse the pilot with the toon. I firmly believe that this build CAN consistently beat 170 (barring any horrendous RNG when it comes to mutators and nemeses spawns)
Factors which allowed my toon to succeed:
1) Focusing on OA instead of Shadow Strike.
As it is, the NB skilltree has MASSIVE crit modifiers to 2 of the 3 spammable attacks - SS, and RoS. In addition, Iceskorn adds a juicy 20% crit to ABB, and soulrend/blade breaker belt adds ~23% crit damage.
What works then is to stack enough OA so that crits hit hard, and hit consistently.
2) The use of macros (marzuk was the brains behind this)
Unfortunately, this variation of the soulrend breaker is a build which requires macros (or perhaps I’m too shit a gamer :P). Having 5-6 spammable skills AND aeon’s will force the player to spend more time staring at the skillbar then at anything else.
3) DPS, DPS, DPS
Literally every seasoned GD player I approached for build advice said the same thing - DPS.
My original build was too focused on survivability (not that it couldn’t dish out the pain) - and as such, fights dragged on longer than they had to, and I was far more likely to make mistakes, or get bitch slapped into oblivion by RNG crits.
Again, my solution to this issue was to increase OA - achieved via allocating approx. 35 attribute points into cunning. It may not sound like much, but the cunning bonus from anatomy of murder is quite surprising.
This has resulted in a very interesting consequence - Sitting at ~3.5k OA, ~3.5k DA, 2.3k armor, and 11.2k hp, this is a breaker which can (with enough practice) get out of most any difficult situation.
Note - these values include chariot’s and harp’s proc. But these should ALWAYS be up with every engagement due to the CDR, and the fact that the player would ideally use mirror to safely proc these buffs.
This in turn results in a very indirect DPS increase. The player is now able to far more frequently use the WHOLE 3s of mirror to fight, rather then to use the last 0.5-1s of it escaping out of a mob; thereby allowing the player to make full use of the +15% dmg modifier from iskandra’s focusing prism.
In addition, the damage output is nothing to be laughed at. With an approximately 31-34s dummy killtime, this breaker can bring down gravathul in 4 to 5 mirror cycles.
3) How to improve your skill level
Finding that sweetspot between OA and DA was achieved with trial and error. Playing the toon as an all cunning character was hilariously fun, but was also extremely punishing. Small mistakes resulted in instant death.
And as I gradually shifted more points into physique, the rate of decline in my DPS was vastly surpassed by the rate at which the ‘forgivability’ of the toon grew. In that process, my control over the toon increased tremendously.
I would advice any player interested in playing ANY breaker build to do the same. After all, failure is the best teacher.
Leveling:
For single player gamers - Malmouth roid juice + spammable spell of your choice (I went with PRM)
For MP gamers - find a buddy to speed level you in gladiator crucible. With the Lokarr set, doing 150-170 three times will get you to level 40. Furthermore, devotion points can be bought with tributes, and you get some sweet leveling gear to boot.
Attribute allocation:
Physique:Cunning:Spirit ratio - 2:1:0
Devotions:
Having done an INCREDIBLE amount of testing - I am 100% convinced this is the best devotion pathing for my breaker variant:
- Purple crossroads --> Viper
- Eel
- Jackal
- Sailor’s guide
- Solemn watchtower
- Yellow crossroads
- Green crossroads --> Quill
- Hammer
- Harp --> Remove point in yellow crossroad
- Crab --> GTFO of hammer
- Hawk
- 4 points into rumor
- 3 points into crown
- Chariot --> Get out of hawk
- Aeon’s
Itemization:
This is a HUGE source of controversy. Most any breaker player will insist on:
a. Deathmarked jacket
b. Silver sentinel’s shoulders
c. Chilling grips of hagarrad
d. M. Unseeing eye of the blind assassin
My build uses:
a. Frostdread curiass
b. Zantarin’s shoulderguard
c. Iceskorn talons
d. M. Iskandra’s focusing prism
Both the curiass and z’s shoulders are obviously lesser in terms of dps. However, I value consistency over burst damage, and my inadequacy as a player prevents me succeeding in the DPS route consistently.
Iceskorn talons were chosen per the crit damage bonus to ABB.
M. Unseeing eye vs Iskandra’s analysis
Decided to add this section in per the very interesting discussion my build has sparked off (God DAYUM I impress myself :P).
Silly jokes aside, I will give my honest to God feedback on the unseeing eye if/when I find one and test it out.
i. Unseeing eye - TO BE TESTED
ii. Iskandra’s
- Offers lovely OA which this build will gratefully lap tf up.
- Gives additional phys --> ele conversion which benefits our cold damage a little. It’s also worth mentioning that skills like IEE, elemental awakening and devotions will also add a little umph to that converted ele damage.
- Has flat elemental damage (100% chance on attack!)
- And to top it all of, +15% damage modifier to mirror.
As JoV (and uuujiiib in my first post) has kindly pointed out, it does lack the +1 to all NB, and will give 1% less CDR. It also does not offer DA, or flat HP.
However, the build I have designed is not in want for defense. As of now, I am currently of the (biased) opinion that DPS (and OA) is more inline with what I need.
Again, this may change when I get the chance to test the unseeing eye.
Relic:
I’ve tried aegis, scourge, and nidalla’s outbreak. (I have not tried nemesis as I believe the massive amounts of AoE in the crucible will evaporate the poor thing. However, I could be wrong in this regard.)
Per superfluff’s advice, I went with nidalla’s and have not been disappointed at all. To paraphrase fluff, you can bind rumor to the N.O’s active skill and spread rumor EXTREMELY effectively. The +1 to all NB, the aether resist, and the fat DA boost just makes this relic that much harder to say no to.
That pretty much covers it all. Feel free to PM with any questions, and PLEASE feel free to criticize the build.
I would love to learn how/where I can improve.
Attachment: breaker.jpg
