I’ve been playing GD on and off since early beta, but have never really gotten to endgame. As a result, I’m not an experienced theory-crafter in this game (although I’ve done a lot in other arpgs), and am a bit fuzzy on some of the game play mechanics. I have a build in mind, but am not certain it would work as I think it would, so I’d love input! So:
I noticed that that the Flames of Ignaffar skill has a component that reduces physical damage resistance, and while looking around in the item database, I saw that there is a set that adds burn, frostburn, and electrocute damage to the skill. I guess the idea is to pair it with a physical damage skill, but I was wondering, if you have an item that converts elemental damage to physical, will it convert the elemental DoT components to internal trauma as well? If so, I was planning a Tactician build around the Mageslayer set plus the Beronath, Reforged sword. The idea would be to use the sword’s skill to convert all the added elemental dot to IT, and scale it with the skill’s inherent physical damage reduction debuff, soldier passives, and the Assassin’s Mark devotion power.
This is certainly not a complete build; I just wanted to put down the basics so that people could get a better idea of what I was thinking and then could confirm if it would work, mechanically-speaking. Actually making it viable might be another question, particularly in regards to energy management, but that’s not the main concern right now. So, really the core question is: does Elemental -> Physical damage conversion convert Elemental DoTs to Physical DoT (Internal Trauma)? Thanks for your help!
Answering your main question - yes, elemental dot is converted to internal trauma. But, from my experience of playing with different FoI concepts in GDstash skill is a bit underwhelming unless you supported it with like EVERYTHING game can offer and even then, it’s still a bit meh. I have tried Chaos FoI with Black Flame set on a deceiver, it was really bad. Then I tried Mageslayer Deceiver, was a bit better, but still meh.
If you are going to pair it with a soldier, mana and resist reduction will be a huge issue. If you pair it with Necromancer or Occultist, you will solve RR issue, but %physical support will become an issue.
That video only tells me that even with GDstashed ridiculous green items he doesn’t quite understand how to make good builds. 2500/2700 DA? Arcane Harmony leggings on a freaking chaos Deceiver? For what, 180% skill disruption protection? 16/12 Arcane Empowerement but just 12/12 Inquisitor rune? This is some noob stuff for gullible twitch users. And some main campaign “gameplay” footage.
I tested that shit through and through and believe me, Black Flame set is worse than mediocre.
I don’t care if it’s Crucible viable or not, you misunderstood me. That’s just a poorly made build with GDstashed items that builder called “INSANE”. That’s not “INSANE”, that’s below mediocre build with below mediocre set. It’s also a very obvious build but despite that, build maker made some very basic mistakes.
Again, not trying to antagonize you or that dude. Nor critisizing that build because it’s not Crucible viable. Just stating the obvious.
Not entirely true. With physical you’ll most likely go for either Oleron or Vire, both of which has no space for Manticore, making Break Morale RR just as good as CoF or spectral wrath. Of course you can go manticore, but you lose lots of physical support.
Thanks for your input everyone! Learned a lot (as much as I can without actually giving this all a try, hah)!
This is good to know, at least in terms of managing expectations. One question: you definitely nailed my concerns regarding energy management with the soldier, but I’m curious about resistance reduction. I just don’t have a good sense of how much is needed. In this build, I’d get some flat phys resistance reduction from the skill itself, and then a percentage resistance reduction from the devotion power, but I have no idea what to shoot for. Is there a rule of thumb or guideline for a good level of resistance reduction?
As for energy management, that was one of the reasons I was going for the IT damage rather than the direct damage from the skill. The thought was that since I can’t apply more than one instance of IT from that source (I think?) I can just spray and run and let the DoT take care of things. Of course, for single target on tough enemies, I’d be losing a huge amount of damage by not continuously attacking, and that would probably kill my energy pool pretty quickly, so, yeah…
It might be a fun thing to try out in GDstash and test every possible gear option. But I wouldn’t level a char specficially for this build. Although if you level Tactician and this build fails there are quite a few options you can go with.
Ok, so what exactly is GDstash? I’ve played around with the GrimTools stuff, but have not come across GDstash.
In regards to leveling a character specifically for this build: yeah, definitely ot. But I have a Tactician that I’ve been leveling as an elemental cadence / word of pain build, and I’m far from an expert but it seems to be leveling pretty quickly and effectively.
GDstash is a programm that let’s you cheat items and skills. A trainer. I keep two seperate save folders: one for legitimate play with all my characters and one for GDstash horsing around: to test wacky builds.
As for your build, I think you’re going to have to explain it to me a bit. Specifically, why Necro? I get the choice of spectral binding/wrath and mark of torment, by why the other points? Necro utilization seems a bit… well, sparse. And I have no sense of this, but how much RR does one need? Would a flat reduction from the skill plus a percentage reduction from devotion not be sufficient? Or it just a case of no diminishing returns, just stack as much as humanely possible?
My other choice would be Occultist but I think necro is better defensive wise. Yes, it was chosen because of resist reduction. And yes resist reduction that looks like “-xx%” stacks with itself and with “xx” kind of reduction (like one on Break Morale or on FoI), so get as much as humanely possible, it’s the biggest source of your damage.
All right, so after some min-maxing I tested this build in Crucible.
Here is the video. I died at wave 160. As with all FoI builds I have tested, damage is kinda low. Build is tanky against a lot of stuff, but just not tanky enough to fight off waves like 160 or 165 or 170. Damage is very mediocre. And you can see that I have tried to squeeze the maximum out of the concept: a lot of RR procs, a lot of devotion procs, added flat damage, etc. etc. And it’s still meh. I think physical caster would need a dedicated set, because converting spells through Beronath sword does not make them good.