[v2.0] The Maelstrom

[Chthon]

My first build here. This is a rework of Ceno’s build Maelstrom

This is a Dual-Wielding Static Strike Stormheart Saboteur.
This is a strong build capable of taking down the toughest enemies of Cairn. The build is easy to make since the main weapon is a guaranteed drop in Ultimate (Check Item Section))

Stormheart is being used not only because it’s strong but also because the original build by Ceno used it. The lore/questline around the weapon is pretty amazing and the fact that the weapon itself is a guaranteed drop makes this build very accessible to new players.

Grimtools -

Saboteur - https://www.grimtools.com/calc/xZydqgrV

*Screenshot with Pneumatic Burst and Permanent Buffs

Elementalist - https://www.grimtools.com/calc/YNnYdXGZ

*Screenshot with Permanent Buffs

Purifier - https://www.grimtools.com/calc/b2836LKN

*Screenshot with Inquisitor Seal and Deadly Aim

FAQ

Which is the best one among the the three concepts?

Saboteur > Elementalist >>> Purifier

Saboteur is the safest setup with two strong circuit breakers, enemy OA shred, dodge and deflect chance and a heal skill with a low cd. Offensively it beats the other setups as well thanks to the WPS

Elementalist’s defense is high HP and Wendigo Totem and offensively the Crit stacking and flat Electrocution are a big boost to DPS

Purifier is the worst one. I had high hopes for it but its mediocre in both defense and offense. Naturally it can tackle the content with ease but when compared to the rest it falls short

Is Kiliran’s Mace not usable here?

Both PrinceXavier and I have tested it independently, Kiliran’s Mace even with good rolls is still only comparable to Stormheart and not better. Considering the difficulty one is bound to encounter to get a good mace I suggest to simply get 2x Stormheart instead.

What is Mythical Stormheart’s location?

To get Mythical Stormheart read Step 3 of this guide.

Remember, the weapon drops once per character.

Leveling Tips-

-Use the Fireblast skill from the component Searing Ember for quick leveling. Then when you get it, use the Greater Fireblast skill from Flintcore bullets. SS is your friend, use it to skip trash and go straight to the bosses.
-Devotions vary based on your situation, if you die too much during leveling then rush Behemoth and Ghoul. If damage is an issue then rush Elemental Storm.
-Level 50 you can either use Fire Daggers (and go fire temporarily) or Use Lightning Daggers and spec to this build if you have some gear.
-Level 75 you can spec to this build (if you already haven’t). Get Stormheart from Tomb of Korvaak
-Level 75-100 your playstyle will have little to no variations

In Closing:-

I’d like to thank Ceno, creator of the original Maelstrom for allowing me to post my version of his build in a separate thread.
Credits to SuperFluff for suggesting maxing Quick Cut and suggesting Kiliran’s Soul for the Attack Speed.

If anyone wants to use Lethal Assault and Spark of Ultos for Lightning Damage going this route.

This is one of the most enjoyable builds i have played so far and i hope you guys enjoy it as well.

[Chthon]

(Reserved)

[Chthon]

(Reserved_)

[Superfluff]

Made significant changes to the build. Also, i’m thinking of dropping Amarastra’s Quick Cut. I mean what the heck does it even do? Any comments?

While i don’t have experience with Saboteur I would try to keep Aamarasta Quick Cut. Like Blademasters, the strength of Saboteurs lies in dealing huge amounts of flat damage with both weapons. Quick cut takes your flat damage and delivers it 3x times in one hit. That is very strong. If you look at Jajaja’s tri-elem saboteur build he keeps Quick cut at 8/8 to have good % weapon damage when delivering the flat damage. I’d use it.

edit: To gain some skills I would leave Blast shield at 12/12 with + skills. It’s powerful enough to make you invincible while it’s active. 1 point ouit of searing light you can take too. It has diminishing returns avter lvl 7.

[Chthon]

While i don’t have experience with Saboteur I would try to keep Aamarasta Quick Cut. Like Blademasters, the strength of Saboteurs lies in dealing huge amounts of flat damage with both weapons. Quick cut takes your flat damage and delivers it 3x times in one hit. That is very strong. If you look at Jajaja’s tri-elem saboteur build he keeps Quick cut at 8/8 to have good % weapon damage when delivering the flat damage. I’d use it.

It delivers 3x times my damage in one hit? Oh, i thought it was useful cause it had some crit damage in it. Thanks for the clarification. Since we’re on the topic of Blademasters, which NB WPS is considered to be beneficial to a DW BM? I skipped Whirling Death as never saw it’s benefit in this build. On the other hand Shears seems really OP

[Superfluff]

It delivers 3x times my damage in one hit? Oh, i thought it was useful cause it had some crit damage in it. Thanks for the clarification. Since we’re on the topic of Blademasters, which NB WPS is considered to be beneficial to a DW BM? I skipped Whirling Death as never saw it’s benefit in this build. On the other hand Shears seems really OP

Single target Amarasta quick cut (it hits 3x and has the crit you mentioned) and Execution (deals most damage) are king. Even if you use Cadence like JOV. But if you use cadence you might not be able to put more than 1 point in quick cut, just 1 point and let + skills do the rest but try to put most points in execution.

Belgothian shears is a great trash mob clearer, it has wide reach but low damage, worth at least a point regardless.

Same for Whirling death but here you are right to skip it on saboteur. It needs many points to get cloese to 100% weapon damage while belgothian has that at lvl one. If you are BM though put 1 point in it at least since it has flat pierce damage

[Chthon]

Single target Amarasta quick cut and Execution (deals most damage) are king. Even if you use Cadence like JOV. But if you use cadence you might not be able to put more than 1 point in quick cut, just 1 point and let + skills do the rest but try to put most points in execution.

Belgothian shears is a great trash mob clearer, it has wide reach but low damage, worth at least a point regardless.

Same for Whirling death but here you are right to skip it on saboteur. It needs many points to get cloese to 100% weapon damage while belgothian has taht at lvl one. If you are BM though put 1 point in it at least

-Nah, like i mentioned in JoV’s thread going to save the BM for the last. I’ve heard too many good things about BM’s OPness to make one just yet. I’m saving it for the last

-My doubts were regarding NB WPS in general. And yeah, i used Whirling Death once, it sucked for single target. As for mobs, chain lightning and other procs kill them before anything.

-As for Shears, i thought it was pretty OP? Since you get a guaranteed hit from both weapons, it covers trash plus single target in the same skill. Am i wrong?

-No arguments regarding execution, it’s OP alright.

-Also, can you kindly explain how Quick Cut works. I checked this build’s original version by Ceno and saw even he had it maxed.
When you say three hits in one hit, does it mean 3x 90% weapon damage (level 8 quick cut) on top of (multiplicative) my default attack?

[Isdrydge]

Would like to say thanks for the explanation about the skills on NB tree, it was really usefull.

Your builds seems really good, as i don’t have time to level more than 2 characters, i let this ones for later but i kept it in mind.

[Chthon]

Would like to say thanks for the explanation about the skills on NB tree, it was really usefull.

Your builds seems really good, as i don’t have time to level more than 2 characters, i let this ones for later but i kept it in mind.

Thank Superfluff, the guy with the OP Physical Commando

And Thank you for complimenting the build, i hope you have as much fun with it as i did.

[Ceno]

Our OA and DA might seem low, but the thing is Flashbang reduces enemies DA by 250 adding to our OA. Same applies to Veil of Shadow which debuffs enemy OA by 130. Thus our effective OA is 2894 and our effective DA is 2033

This isn’t entirely accurate. Due to the diminishing returns of OA vs. DA, Flashbang contributes a little less than 250 effective OA to you, and Veil of Shadows contributes a little more than 130 DA to you. Still close enough for technical work, though.

Glad to see the Maelstrom doing well. I’m almost tempted to try my hand at it again…

[Chthon]

This isn’t entirely accurate. Due to the diminishing returns of OA vs. DA, Flashbang contributes a little less than 250 effective OA to you, and Veil of Shadows contributes a little more than 130 DA to you. Still close enough for technical work, though.

Glad to see the Maelstrom doing well. I’m almost tempted to try my hand at it again…

Huh? :eek:
It seems pretty straight forward increase to me, i mean “reduced” and not “%reduced” would imply absolute reduction. So my enemy’s DA is getting reduced by 250 which would effectively mean i get 250 more in my OA.

And you should
Your build is more fun than you think despite the nerf. It’s nice to see lightning clearing your way through trash and it’s even more fun when you crush the Mad Queen like the bug she is

[Ceno]

Huh? :eek:
It seems pretty straight forward increase to me, i mean “reduced” and not “%reduced” would imply absolute reduction. So my enemy’s DA is getting reduced by 250 which would effectively mean i get 250 more in my OA.

The enemy is losing 250 DA but the relationship between OA and DA is nonlinear. Losing X DA is a lot harsher than gaining X OA.

[Superfluff]

-My doubts were regarding NB WPS in general. And yeah, i used Whirling Death once, it sucked for single target. As for mobs, chain lightning and other procs kill them before anything. - Whirling Death hits 2x everything in 360 around you. Belgothian does that in 165 degree arc. Belgothian is strong at lvl 1 but Whirling death starts to ouperform shears IF overcapped, so lots of skills.

-As for Shears, i thought it was pretty OP? Since you get a guaranteed hit from both weapons, it covers trash plus single target in the same skill. Am i wrong? - Like above, both shears and whirling death hit 2x. Shears have a slightly slower animation than whirly twirly but still good

-No arguments regarding execution, it’s OP alright.

-Also, can you kindly explain how Quick Cut works. I checked this build’s original version by Ceno and saw even he had it maxed.
When you say three hits in one hit, does it mean 3x 90% weapon damage (level 8 quick cut) on top of (multiplicative) my default attack? - it’s 3x 90% weapon damage at 8/8. To that you add the flat damage, fire/lightningin your case, you do. As far as % weapon damage from WPS and Fire strike goes all I know is %Weapon Damage" from WPS and default attack skill are multiplied by each other. Perhaps someone coud comment more on this. regardless of the exact formula, you want to apply all the flaat damage you have as quickly as possible and amarasta Quick cut does just that. Having two QC in a row follow by an execution is a beautiful thing

Edit: What Ceno says about OA and DA is true, especially after you reach a certain point in OA like over 3000.

[Chthon]

The enemy is losing 250 DA but the relationship between OA and DA is nonlinear. Losing X DA is a lot harsher than gaining X OA.

Ah, i thought it was linear. Thanks for the info, will update the guide and remove that point. Don’t want to be spreading false info

[Chthon]

-My doubts were regarding NB WPS in general. And yeah, i used Whirling Death once, it sucked for single target. As for mobs, chain lightning and other procs kill them before anything. - Whirling Death hits 2x everything in 360 around you. Belgothian does that in 165 degree arc. Belgothian is strong at lvl 1 but Whirling death starts to ouperform shears IF overcapped, so lots of skills.

-As for Shears, i thought it was pretty OP? Since you get a guaranteed hit from both weapons, it covers trash plus single target in the same skill. Am i wrong? - Like above, both shears and whirling death hit 2x. Shears have a slightly slower animation than whirly twirly but still good

-No arguments regarding execution, it’s OP alright.

-Also, can you kindly explain how Quick Cut works. I checked this build’s original version by Ceno and saw even he had it maxed.
When you say three hits in one hit, does it mean 3x 90% weapon damage (level 8 quick cut) on top of (multiplicative) my default attack? - it’s 3x 90% weapon damage at 8/8. To that you add the flat damage, fire/lightningin your case, you do. As far as % weapon damage from WPS and Fire strike goes all I know is %Weapon Damage" from WPS and default attack skill are multiplied by each other. Perhaps someone coud comment more on this. regardless of the exact formula, you want to apply all the flaat damage you have as quickly as possible and amarasta Quick cut does just that. Having two QC in a row follow by an execution is a beautiful thing

Edit: What Ceno says about OA and DA is true, especially after you reach a certain point in OA like over 3000.

When i get the time i will test the build and then update the GrimCalc and guide, thank you both.

Oh and in what way does it out-perform Shears at higher levels? I don’t see Whirly at high levels to be as good as shears for single target

[ithoran]

-My doubts were regarding NB WPS in general. And yeah, i used Whirling Death once, it sucked for single target. As for mobs, chain lightning and other procs kill them before anything. - Whirling Death hits 2x everything in 360 around you. Belgothian does that in 165 degree arc. Belgothian is strong at lvl 1 but Whirling death starts to ouperform shears IF overcapped, so lots of skills.

-As for Shears, i thought it was pretty OP? Since you get a guaranteed hit from both weapons, it covers trash plus single target in the same skill. Am i wrong? - Like above, both shears and whirling death hit 2x. Shears have a slightly slower animation than whirly twirly but still good

-No arguments regarding execution, it’s OP alright.

-Also, can you kindly explain how Quick Cut works. I checked this build’s original version by Ceno and saw even he had it maxed.
When you say three hits in one hit, does it mean 3x 90% weapon damage (level 8 quick cut) on top of (multiplicative) my default attack? - it’s 3x 90% weapon damage at 8/8. To that you add the flat damage, fire/lightningin your case, you do. As far as % weapon damage from WPS and Fire strike goes all I know is %Weapon Damage" from WPS and default attack skill are multiplied by each other. Perhaps someone coud comment more on this. regardless of the exact formula, you want to apply all the flaat damage you have as quickly as possible and amarasta Quick cut does just that. Having two QC in a row follow by an execution is a beautiful thing

Edit: What Ceno says about OA and DA is true, especially after you reach a certain point in OA like over 3000.

From my reaserch, if your going Saboteur you should max AQC and Execution and put 1 point in Belgothian’s.

AQC hits 3 times, once with your main hand and 2 times with your offhand (I read it somewhere can’t remember), Excution is just good and there’s a reason for 1 point in Belgothain. That skills is quite good at 1 point because of stats and the proc chance, the animation is too slow. So you get 8% chance to activate it which isn’t that much so it doesn’t proc too much when you fight bosses but it’s nice when it procs on trash.

WD is ok but you need a lot of points into it.

[Superfluff]

Oh and in what way does it out-perform Shears at higher levels? I don’t see Whirly at high levels to be as good as shears for single target

Only if you don’t have high pierce conversion on a BM does it outperform Shears because shears have phys flat and whirly has fixed flat pierce with no variation. (Bleed Dw tricksters don’t have high conversion for example)

On a BM for example (I made a WPS non SS or Cadence BM) it really depends on the level of conversion you have. If you are using Derm slicer (with Nadaan ofc) then Belgothian will be stronger than Whirl because all that hard phys damage turns into pierce. No contest. On my build I hold each wps in high regard becuase it’s all I got, Yet even with high pierce conversion i still have more points in Whirling death than shears because the animation is faster. i change this from time to time to see how it feels.

Same goes for markovian Advantage, This is even stronger than Shears, 80% more flat phys damage converted and more %damage on it.

I hope i didn’t confuse you like i sometimes do to people. Belogthian is just fine for your saboteur. BM’s can leave Whirl at 1 point allways. Besides my WPS only attempt just bleed/bleed hybrid builds really max it.

[Chthon]

…

But even so, wouldn’t it lack a bit for single target ?(i know it’s not meant for that, but it’s a WPS and can activate anytime)

[Superfluff]

But even so, wouldn’t it lack a bit for single target ?(i know it’s not meant for that, but it’s a WPS and can activate anytime)

For your Saboteur it certainly would lack.

For a SS BM with lot’s of + skills it’s fine at 1 point.

For JOV’s BM is a different story because it doesn’t need so many filler porcs with cadence all over the place and fighting form at 12/12 covers AOE if you chose to go for it which he didnt, seems Blades of wrath on spirit is enough.

[Chthon]

For your Saboteur it certainly would lack.

For a SS BM with lot’s of + skills it’s fine at 1 point.

For JOV’s BM is a different story because it doesn’t need so many filler porcs with cadence all over the place and fighting form at 12/12 covers AOE if you chose to go for it which he didnt, seems Blades of wrath on spirit is enough.

Ah, i guess the difference gets caused by the flat pierce damage on Whirly which in some cases makes it better than shears. Gotcha. Thanks for all the help