I think the problem with an AAR build, is they don’t have any ADCTH to pick up the slack from the damage you do take. I have noticed a lot of those guys which rush you, have slow animations on their attacks, so if you have 80% stun resist, you can move before they hit you.
I’m hoping that 30+ physical resists, and 20% damage absorption on top of Seal will make my new Mage Hunter an effective tank. You might have to give up reckless power for Aura of Conviction.
I’ve been experimenting with new ways to stay alive with my Spellbinder. Twin Fangs with Ill Omen, is surprisingly good at keeping a steady flow of HP coming back to me. I wonder if you could use the Inquisitor Seal in a similar manner.
Hmm, I’ll look into it, but Aura of Conviction is just horrible for that build except for the resistance. I mean it’s a really solid build for the most part, because it tends to just annihilate most enemies before they can even do anything, but that particular style of enemy the entire expansion is full of just happens to have the exact combination of longevity, attack power and speed that kills me.
They hit just hard enough that seal & heal doesn’t stall them out, they live just long enough that mirror isn’t enough to down them all before my invul wears off, and they are so fast that they are hard to kite even with a slow on them.
That just got me thinking, if I don’t use seal on basically all other enemies I’m fine. If I do use seal on those guys I still die.
I’ve noticed a lot of AAR builds don’t use Reckless Power. You only gain a little casting speed and a small amount of +Aether/Fire damage%. I often see Star Pact instead. Anyway, it might not be worth using if it doesn’t help you tank them, but if it gets you there, it’s worth it.
Your other option, if it’s just those guys, is to use Mirror for them, and take it slow in the area with them.
That is only true for endgame geared characters though. For me Reckless power still ups my Aether damage from 700% to over 800% so still well worth it alongside 12% cast speed.
I wish they would beef it up though. I think it needs some OA, would also be fitting.
Heck in some ways I wish it would do something like the original version but give a HUGE damage buff. Like double damage.
I have no problem staying alive on my ARR Mage Hunter on Ultimate in act 3 so far. You have so many tools, Word of Renewal with 1k+ max health, 100 DA, 15% run speed and 30% CC reduction on top of Inquisitor Seal with 230 damage absorb plus 25% projectile evade and Maiven’s Sphere with 20% damage absorb and MoE. The cherry on top being OFF and transmuted CT.
10% CDR is nice and certainly worth consideration but it is not clear cut better. Being able to cast as fast as possible is just as valuable.
Big pack (4+) of Flesh Hulks and their Cthonian counterparts are the only real problems for now but most builds have trouble with those anyway. They feel like a big “fu” from Crate to ranged characters seeing how they have absurd health, absurd damage, absurd speed and charge on top of being almost CC immune/highly resistant.
And, as someone who used Seal, Aura of Conviction, and a health amount of physical resistance, I could tank them. He said he couldn’t survive the initial attack, which tells me his physical resists weren’t good enough. Aura of Conviction is a quick fix.
I suggested him to use Aura of Conviction to survive. I mentioned that a lot of people use Star Pact instead of Reckless Power, to show that it’s not indispensable.
You do more damage alive than dead anyway. If Aura of Conviction works, it’s simply better than dying.
Both give boni in the 10% region. Noticable but hardly game changing. These work best if you get substantial boni from gear and/or devotions on top of everything imho.
Would 15% more resistance make a real difference though if you’re getting hit for 1000 damage?
If other people also feel like those mobs are a bit out of line at least one might say that those enemies are the issue, not the abilities.
I mean it’s really just this one particular type of enemy that downs me on occasion, I’ve run through all the “roguelike” dungeons and stuff like that without much of a problem. My build can deal with most obstacles by just being careful.
I still think I’d like the seal better if it debuffed enemies or gave some other defensive bonus instead of dealing lackluster damage to enemies in it.
Let’s do a little math, and you might see just how much 15% physical resists can do.
Example hit of 5000 physical damage:
Normally, it might go like this with 0 physical resists:
Apply Maiven’s: 5000 * .80 = 4000
Apply Armor of 1500ish with 100% absorption: 4000 - 1500 = 2500
Apply Seal: 2500 - 250 = 2250
With 15% physical resists:
Apply 15% to 5000 = 4250
Apply Maiven’s: 4250 * .80 = 3400
Apply Armor of 1500ish with 100% absorption: 3400 - 1500 = 1900
Apply Seal: 2500 - 250 = 1650
That 15% physical resists, lowered the physical damage from a 5000 shot by 26.67%.
Against that group of 4, you go from 9000 instantly, to 6600 instantly. You can survive the 2nd, but not the first.
The more physical resists you add, and more raw absorption from things like Maiven’s and armor, the more each point of resists help. At 35-40% percent, you start getting into the tanking realm. Maiven’s, against physical attacks, has the same affect as physical resists have, so 20% damage absorption + 15% physical resists, is pretty much the same as 35% physical resists against a physical attack (Maiven’s as better is it obviously helps against all attacks).
So, to answer your question, 15% physical resists may be all it takes for you to go from fodder to success. It might not be, but you can’t know without trying.
That is how it works, on the physical resists. With raw damage absorption, the closer you get the damage down to your raw absorption, the more each point of resists helps. Armor and the Seal are both raw absorption.
