[3.16 - RETIRING BUILD] VD Brands: S-Tier Bosser, A-Tier Map! -- MURDERED BY GGG_INTERN SOMEWHERE--

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Diacred escreveu:

Hey guys!

I was looking for a fun non meta build and I am really happy I stumbled upon this one. Great guide, great build, I am having quite a bit of fun with it atm!
I am only level 78 and missing quite a few passives but it's still working pretty well.

I did a few things differently, I am not sure if any is better than what you guys have been trying, but here are the things I changed:

- As I managed to get a headhunter this league after 2 weeks of farming and really wanted to use it in this build, meaning I don't have a belt slot for life / resistances
- I am using Asenath's Gentle Touch gloves for the corpse explosions + blind + temporal chains, but that meant that I need to use Whispers Of Doom anoint to get a second curse and can't use Battle Rouse to help alleviate mana issues.
- I am using the Perfect Form on the armor slot, I just love this armor piece, the free Arctic Armor (and thus freeze immunity), decent evasion (I get about 40% chance to evade) + Phase Acrobatics feels very good in terms of survivability.
- I am using the cluster jewel Kitava's Teaching to get the notable Disciple of Kitava, we're always spawning corpses so I felt it fit quite well in this build and it gives mana and life regen every second
- Because I have a HH + Asenath I can't get enough resists if I go for a Leadership's Price, so I decided to go for the cluster jewel Secrets of Suffering. But this means I need to do enough lightning and cold damage to make it work. It's not perfect yet, but with just a abyssal jewel with T1 added lightning / added cold damage to spells, I manage to get 30% Scorch, 5% Sap and Brittle on most bosses.
- The jewel in question also has 2% of damage recouped as mana which is not as good as Battle Rouse but helps a bit.

Here is my "version"'s PoB if some are interested:

https://pastebin.com/TeeSHusY

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I feel like there are still a lot of things to improve but I have 2 main issues at the moment:

- Mana consumption is just insane, when you get to 200%+ cast speed the mana just runs out too fast for even an enduring mana flask + clarity lvl 20 (had to replace Skitterbots with it for now). I am also using a Divergent Life On Hit on Cyclone to squeeze a bit more mana per hit, as well as the 2% damages recouped as mana jewel, but even with all that I am permanently out of mana when the build ramps up. I still do tons of damage but I feel it could be so much more without mana problems. Do you guys feel the same way or is Battle Rouse just this good?
I am considering using a Lavangia's Spirit mana flask as well as an enduring mana flask but losing a flask slot may hurt.
- The 2 brands playstyle is sometimes weird, if you don't time it properly (you cast the 2 brands too fast), sometimes the second brand won't cast (seems like PoE doesn't buffer skills) and the few times I have died are pretty much because of me only having one of the 2 brands out. Might just be that I need to slow down when playing this build but wondering how you guys manage that (I am considering putting everything on only one arcanist brand)

Anyway, thanks a lot for a great build and all your discussions those past few pages, it's been really interesting to read!

Edit: don't mind the anomalous arctic armor with prolif, I used that before setting up Secrets of Suffering and forgot to remove it :p

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IceColdPorkSoda escreveu:

https://pastebin.com/L7B19phx

Here's my take on the build. Single brand set-up. EB/MoM. I need to improve my gear a lot but I like the way it feels to play more than I did when descerate and VD were on separate brands. It makes mapping way smoother when I'm not lagging incredibly hard.

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primaeva escreveu:

Ha-HA! Someone with a HH for the build! I imagine if you managed to Soul Eater into a Minotaur you could get an instant pop eventually!

I hope you're not too discouraged by the slow speed currently because trust me, once you get the hang of it, it absolutely plows open map layouts because it turns from casting BEFORE packs to casting IN BETWEEN them - then you are basically racing against your own balls to hit the next packs.

[...]

Yes, I am overdue for a video on "Tips and Tricks" on playing the 2-button playstyle, my bad. There's a ton of tricks to "reset" an error - for example - if you fuck up 2 brands, just recast 1-2 again then Recall on top of the target. The newest brands attach to the target, and the 2 "wrong" ones will be prioritised later. This is most obvious when, during learning, you fuck up on the boss. So just recast correctly, then "Pull" the wrong brands off the boss with Recall.

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primaeva escreveu:

B) Remove Arcane Surge on Desecrate - I toyed with this idea but realised it's counterintuitive - the slight increase to mana regen doesn't pay for the amount of mana drained from a 300% cast speed Desecrate brand ticking.

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primaeva escreveu:

Finally, grab an Unnatural Instinct immediately, it gives you INSANE offense and returns 2 passive points to you! It gives: 58% increased damage (with Spritual Aid), 10% maximum mana (yum), and 30% increased corpse health which is insane - so now your corpses have 180% life instead of 100% from a normal Desecrate. Big booms!

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primaeva escreveu:

I'm glad there are players still actively seeking off-meta! It really goes against the narrative that off-meta builds can't do endgame. Most people just mean "what streamers build" and that's it.

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primaeva escreveu:

OH! I forgot to mention one thing: here is my version of Arctic Armour preventing freezes: An Idiot-proof CWDT loop.

https://streamable.com/aegb8x

(Yes, this is T16 crit map damage being soaked xD)

EDIT: On that note, maybe Vaal Clarity is the play. The only time you truly need the mana at full pump is when unloading on a Guardian/ElderGuardian/Conqueror, so you should have Vaal Charges. Let the brands ramp to full, then pop Vaal Clarity.. Bam, 14 seconds of unlimited mana!! (9.9 * 40% skill effect duration from Ascendancy).

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primaeva escreveu:

There is one thing I cannot understate - buy a cast speed Cane of Kulemak, and watch the playability go through the roof. I was shocked at how different the build felt.

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IceColdPorkSoda escreveu:

Also, I still need to test out how DD does in place of VD for bossing. I have a baran A4 that’s almost ready to spawn. DD won’t consume too many corpses despite my hat enchant, so two brands should be a true doubling of damage unlike the VD setup that is going to consume too many corpses.