I was quite disappointed by the lack of infos about such a build, since every couple of days there is someone that ask how to play with PB. So I grabbed the first suited software, found the first hosting site I came across and here we are. Thanks to TomoDak for letting me realize that these days videos can be really small in size… ETK can finally advance into the XXI century.
Here’s a pic of the char:
These are some video of a BoC run done WITHOUT any consumables (including health and mana potions). I have a bad upload speed, so the first video is just an extract of standard gameplay inside the Bastions while the other is the final boss. I even tried to pick Fabius, but he’s avoiding me pretty hard…:mad:
On a side note, I never understood cherry-picking videos. They only raise unrealistic expectations and nothing else. So I had promised myself to put on the first video of the final fight I recorded. I was unlucky and mistimed some skills badly. Usually I finish Shar’Zhul in one single tanking session after a small ranged skirmisher, in about 2/3 of the time and I don’t have to kite at all. Anyway a promise is a promise.
Gameplay
https://vid.me/VBXZ
BoC Final boss
https://vid.me/BWMz
What you can do with this build? I have completed all the game content in ultimate excluding:
- Edge of Reality / Dalia quest. Heck, i never tried, nor i will. After doing this quest 4-5 times with other chars, there’s simply nothing that incentives me to replay the whole thing on every other playthrough.
- Avatar of Mogdrogen - There’s not much to say, this guy is brutal in ultimate, and the reward is, imho, underwhelming even in this case.
PART II - PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS
[spoiler]OA - 3000 is the sweet spot. At this value, you get both a good “chance to crit” against bosses and a meaningful “critical damage multiplier”. Going over 3000 is just overkill, do it only if you aren’t sacrificing something else. For most encounters, above 2600 is fine as well.
DA - 2250 is another sweet spot. With this, almost no enemy can critical hit you anymore, and you get some “dodge” as well. The feared Fabius + “Notched Bone of a Thousand Deaths” combo will become nothing but a small nuisance. While this char doesn’t get the DA suggested, it will more than compensate for it with some points in Veil of Shadows.
HP - I feel the bare minimum is 10000 even on caster/ranged build. You can be fine with less, ofc, but in that case you’re pretty good at playing, and so shouldn’t be here reading this anyway.
RESISTANCES - This can be a controversial topic. But i like to have them all maxed (or at least above 65-70%), because in this way my chars play the same no matter where I am. Also BoC is not the only interesting place that there is, and i don’t like swapping gear at all. Personal tastes I presume.
PHYSICAL RESISTANCE / ARMOR - Another controversial topic, but once you have almost maxed your primary resistances, enemies that deals physical damage will become the major threats. While attaining a good value of physical resistance is a bit unrealistic for this specific build, you can still give your armor pieces some love.[/spoiler]
PART III - ATTRIBUTES
[spoiler]Pretty straightforward section, physique is king here, but maybe you will need some spirit as well to equip some of the more demanding items.
So my advice is to go physique all the way, while maintaing a small pool of unused attribute points (10 will suffice) to fill any eventual gap between your current spirit and the spirit required to equip something.
For reference, this char has only 4 point into spirit.
[/spoiler]
PART IV - SKILLS
Nightblade Tab
Arcanist Tab
You can skip Ring of Steel and Olexra’s Flash Freeze if you want. All the other skills, aside PB, you can tune as you see fit. I strongly suggest to get Devastation at least to 16/16, however.
PART V - DEVOTION
http://grimcalc.com/build/eJ1B3GZ
[spoiler]The most important thing you have to pick is ACID SPRAY from Manticore (and bound it to PB). Yes, it boost ALL your damage, but you need it mostly because it allow PB to life-leech (adcth) way more efficiently.
Arcane Bomb is overkill, so I just grabbed it:D. Between my dagger, this and Acid Spray i have -88% to the enemy’s aether resistance (and -55% applied almost instantly)
All the other points should be used to cover major weaknesses of your build (es, i picked Wolverine for the massive boost to the DA, Obelisk of Menhir for the armor and the DA as well)[/spoiler]
PART VI - GEAR
[spoiler]Okay, first of all you can simply wear a full Clairvoyant Set + just one Albrecth’s Duality ring and be happy with it. This way you get even more damage out of PB (by a minor margin however), but you’ll lose some important bonuses as well.
In the end, the only thing you have to get from your equipment is at least 100% chaos->aether conversion and the to possibility to max PB to 26/16 (because at this skill’s level you get the 6th blade)
Since there are numerous others efficient gear setups for this particular build, and that is pretty difficult for me to list them all, i have decided to outline only the items that can give a massive boost to this char (aka BiS).
Helm - Outcast’s Secret > Aka, who don’t like an extra Devastation?
Gloves - Aethereach > Cast speed and a good, aether-based proc.
Artefact - Agrivix’s Malice > The proc is a necessity, unless you want to get swarmed.
Rings - Albrecht’s Duality > You need at least one even if you go Clairvoyant.
Weapon - Warpfire > This item deserve a special place. It’s the most beloved item in many of my chars, and for good reasons. On this build, it is simply brutal, and sinergize perfectly with my devotions/skills setup. Also, if you want to cheese a bit, try what an overcapped OFF can do to a whole screen full of trash mobs while you’re wielding this.
Medal - Badge of Mastery (+5 PB) > I forgot to mention this. Quite a mandatory item if you want to get to 26/16 Phantasmal Blades, while maintaing freedom in your other equipment slots. Keep in mind that a +2/+3 one is quite as good as the +5 version, since Moosilauke’s Pauldrons (shoulder armor) have an implicit bonus to PB (up to +3 to this skill) and also a bonus to OA and massive pierce resistance, above all the other stats you can get from the potential affixes. [/spoiler]
<3 A lot of us can look at this and instantly get what is going on, but maybe include some stuff for the noobies
They look fine to me. Only thing that you need to do is get enough green to spec into okraine lantern and then spec out of another devotion once you complete it.