Part eighteen of my controller friendly build series: Elemental Cadence Scion Witchblade.
Grimtools link. The greens aren’t optimal, just the best I have.
I should shoutout Dutchy’s Scion Battlemage, which is pretty similar, but probably stronger. I considered a Battlemage, but opted for Witchblade because it offers 43% elemental resist reduction.
This build is pretty similar in playstyle to my Physical Leviathan Death Knight, so I’m going to start with the comparison to that.
Cons vs Death Knight:
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lower health
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lower resists
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way lower damage
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substantial downtime on War Cry
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despite much higher DA, is a lot less tanky.
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may be unable to clear SR80
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Death Knight cruises through SR80, and can definitely go higher
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has to cast Curse of Frailty, which is clunky with low cast speed
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has greens
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probably not that well done, to be completely honest
Pros vs Death Knight:
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more OA
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more DA
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more room for improvement
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cooler looking helmet
So, with all that having been said, I’m going to make this build guide short, since this is the vastly inferior build.
Video proof of clear
Gear
As usual, the resists are overcapped to deal with resist reduction on high SR. I wasn’t confident about many of the component choices, but they seemed to sort of work.
Essential Gear:
- Scion of Arcane Force: what the build is based around
Stuff I’m pretty sure is best in slot:
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Horns of Korvaak: AS, +1 to all skills, elemental damage, and important conversions make this an item I’m confident about.
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The Crimson Claws: really really needed the lifesteal, and gives good AOE bonuses.
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Boots of Primordial Rage: good stats. +2 to Cadence.
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Shroud of Illusion: the aether conversion isn’t wasted, the OA and DA are needed, and the +2 to Cadence means it has some synergy.
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Mark of the Dreadblade: the aether is converted, the speed is nice, the vit res is good, and the boosts to Cadence is really important. This build struggles for healing, and the 6% Cadence to health is needed.
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Arcane Harmony Leggings: I considered Leggings of Arcane Currents, but they don’t offer much more damage (since Cadence is maxed already), and offer worse defense, and the skill disruption protection is always good to have.
Other stuff:
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Conduit of Eldritch Whispers: would be better if it came with pierce resist. Still, offers good stuff. But there may be a better option.
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Ugdenbog Girdle: +1 to all skills in Soldier is important, and they can come with elemental damage, which this build needs. There wasn’t anything with a lot of synergy here.
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Rings: I had no idea what to do here. Combustion band kind of makes sense, since it gives AS, fire damage, and slight resist reduction.
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Shoulders: Haunted Shoulderpad isn’t great. Kra’Vall’s Shoulderguards should be much stronger, but I don’t have any good ones.
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Serenity: Doom offers more damage, but I felt like I needed the defense.
Devotions
I decided to go for all 3 elemental -% RR, but I’m not sure it was worth it.
Levelling Tips
Levelling was rough. Voldrak’s Crusher was surprisingly good.
