A big thanks to @eardianm for testing out some of my endgame builds for me.
I can now safely say that pet builds will do more than fine in the upcoming patch (unless some drastic change happens). While super deep SR, semi-afk facetanking Superbosses, etc might no longer be possible, everything else should be ok
Linking the Callagadra bullying because… well… a cally bully a day keeps yugol away.
Now, since this seems to be a rather hot topic…
Regarding Sunder, easiest way to deal with it if you are playing with Pets -
If you have pets that can generate threat (or taunt) enemies for you, make sure to level up their aggro generating skills so that enemies focus on them more.
Do not ignore your Pet resistances because the idea is to use them as shield so that they get sundered instead of the player (unless you are ok with kiting and avoiding the sunder skills)
More Pets = easier to mess with the boss AI, which means less frequency of attacks and spells cast. So, stuff like Skeletons should not be bad even though they are not that sturdy. Just make sure to have some sturdy pets to act as tanks as well.
While leveling, should not be an issue. Just remember to wait till your character is geared before tackling endgame challenges and do not be hesitant to go down a difficulty if you find it too difficult to farm for gear, especially if on Hardcore mode.
I have never played an end game pet build and I spent about 2 minutes asking Maya about the setup before diving into a few SR75-76 runs, Ravager, and Cally, so this is super easy to play still. In SR Scarlet pulling big packs is a no no, especially with sunder spam in 1.2, but more so because the debuff stacking just murders pet dps, very quickly got muddy. Otherwise these were an easy play, although I disagree strongly on the player’s CC res here
So I think the need for speed has finally bit Maya, maybe after my spamming of pet builds recently looking for quick Ravager kill tests, maybe from the toxic infusion to GD Discord in general. Scarlet has been revamped with the latest tech and feels like a top tier build in PT, with some final gear/devo testing still needed
edit: but in PT you absolutely replace the ring components with frozen hearts imo
I’m coming back from a hiatus and I’m looking to make a fresh start. I noticed where you gave props to your Ishtar build as being very viable in the upcoming patch. I’ve always played your Fluffy Squishy…what’s your current recommendation? Is Fluffy still viable…I’m not 100% sure what’s changing.
Regarding the current status of my builds in 1.2, they all seem to be viable.
I was mostly concerned about the new mechanics and how my builds might be affected. Since I play on GoG, I am not able to participate in the playtest (only available to steam users).
So, I was going with a relatively safe choice with Ishtar since Reap Spirit is pretty much immortal and the build itself is rather tanky. But, since making that post, people have been helping me test out my builds and it seems that they all perform pretty much same as they always did.
So, essentially nothing to worry about and Fluffy Squishy is 100% viable.
The change I was concerned for was mostly the Sunder mechanic, which is a debuff that bosses apply with some attacks and makes you take more damage for its duration.
I was worried that pets might die a lot more or that the tankiness of my builds might suffer too much, forcing me to change them into more DPS focused.
But it seems that with all the other changes happening as well, everything evens out and balances things.
Things have changed with the recent updates to the Test patch.
Facetanking is no longer a viable strategy and Green MIs are more attractive than ever.
In light of the above, I was wondering how you guys feel about the inclusion of Greens and a Shift in focus to more Damage oriented approach.
I can still make the usual tanky setups, but they are going to be less useful since you will take longer to kill stuff, for only a slight difference in safety.
I’ve read Zantai’s requirements for a guide, and I don’t have the strength to do something like that.
Is it correct to offer my character’s grimtools under a post with someone else’s guide?
My occultist + shaman, designed for damage, kills Callagadra in 1:30-1:40 (record 1:22), kills Ravager in 1:10-1:20 (record 0:53). Crate dies in 0:30-0:40 seconds. Shards I got to 115 (and didn’t go any further, it was a disgusting experience). I pass crucible 150-170 in 7-8 minutes.
This is about version 1.1.98.
If you don’t mind, I’ll add grimtools in the next comment.
Imo, it might be better to make a separate post for the build you are using (along with screenshots or videos for all its achievements like the Superboss kills you mentioned) and then post a link to the guide of your choice there.
That way, your build will get more visibility and will be easier for others to link to
The more OA, the easier it is to kill Callagadra. That is why the rings have such a prefix (60% damage + 6% OA instead of 90% damage)
Instead of 13-13 for the curse of weakness, you can make 10-10, invest two points in the swarm and 1-3 in the winds - in terms of reducing the resistance according to the numbers, it turns out to be more profitable, but I don’t have enough hands to press the extra two buttons.
The howl of a wolf at the teleport, the call of a shepherd at the arrow - so that there is a 100% chance of activation. A dog for a curse, so that the curse spams creatures)) These are 3 of my actives (not counting blessings).
Fwiw I spawned this gear in on 1.2 with removed super damage reduction and base pet buffs and got 1:40 on Cally, so I have no idea how those times above are achieved in 1.1.9.8. I don’t understand not taking solael component for chaos RR or points into devouring swarm on a bleed/chaos hybrid, this looks like it could be improved.
)
