Essence Drain Contagion CRAFTING GUIDE 3.29 - Battery Staff, CI Chest & Awakener Helmet

GORATHA CHAOS DOT WEEK 1 NOTES **CHECK ALTERNATIVE SETUP FOR WHAT I ACTUALLY ENDED UP DOING** WHAT DO I DO IF I DON'T HAVE MAGEBLOOD?!?! -Most asked question, Mageblood isn't "required" for the build, it does help a lot though defensively and mobilty-wise. DPS is mostly the same. -Unholy Accomplice is a new belt that turns Pact debuffs into "Boons" which grant buffs instead, this is a nice alternative if you don't have one. WHAT DOES MAGEBLOOD ACTUALLY DO AND HOW DO I SURVIVE WITHOUT IT?! -Mageblood is easy access to maximum resists, curse immunity, ailment immunity, and some movement speed. -Max Resistances are good, but you can get some Resistance Flask with "Charges Gained When Hit", these work even when you block, making them a nice solution early. -You should run Life Flask, Granite (or Topaz/Ruby/Sapphire), Silver, and Quicksilver. If you are struggling defensively at all, consider using Maximum Resist flasks over Silver. Granite helps a lot for Physical early on especially. AILMENT IMMUNITY -You can run Brine King for Freeze Immune Early, and Garaukhan for Reduced Shock Effect. Try to get remove ignite on a flask. -Later on there is a few options. #1 You can use Purity of Elements over Malevolence, I do not recommend this, I would rather continue using Pantheons. -Stormshroud works even without Mageblood, you can get two 50% Avoid Shock Abyss jewels and become fully immune for the cost of 3 jewel slots. -Rational Doctrine + Millitant Faith consecrated ground immune to ailments. This is another expensive option, but works well with Unholy Accomplice. WHY NO BANE OF CONDEMNATION? -After playing the character, I decided that playstyle-wise I would rather use Blight or Blight of Contagion in combination with Essence Drain. -This is slightly less DPS on POB, but it's simpler and you don't have to reapply Bane constantly. -You do end up losing the extra curses however, this does hurt a bit, in the end it's just preference. BLIGHT VS BLIGHT OF CONTAGION -Normal Blight ramps harder and deals more damage at the end of the ramp, it also does not spread with Contagion (not a big deal since this build mostly uses Essence Drain for clear) -Blight of Contagion ramps much faster but has lower ceiling, and it also does spread with Contagion. I personally would only use normal Blight for super juiced Single Target situations or maybe Ubers. WHEN DO I GO CI?!? -You can go CI as soon as you get a decent Twilight Regalia with 800+ Energy Shield & the Armor/ES mastery. -Aim for AT LEAST 5K Energy Shield, though this is quite low still, 6K+ would be preferable. -ES Light of Meaning helps a lot later on but it's not required early. STAFF -Cane of the Unravelling is very good starter weapon but compared to a rare staff it does very little damage endgame. -Battery Staff is the best base but it has no block implicit and no mana regen per power charge, and also doesn't generate as many power charges. The Fixes -Put Essence Drain into Battery Staff, this spends ES instead of Mana for Essence Drain. -Use -Mana to Channelling craft on Ring(s) as needed, and use Blight or Blight of Contagion in your body armor. You want to spend mana still to generate Power Charges from Forbidden Power. -Allocate Power Charge gained while channeling Caster Mastery. This helps make up for the loss of the Cane Power Charge generation. -Allocate Mana Regen nodes or Efficiency as needed. Make sure to spend some mana still. Arcane Will is a good option for mana regen, you can also take the Mana Mastery for +5 mana regen per second. -Arcane Conservation is another node you can take but it should not be needed. -With the loss of Block from the Cane you can craft Attack Block & Spell Block on your Battery Staff. -Red Nightmare in Templar Jewel (you'll have to move Timeless) along with Fire Resistance Tattoos can help fix the Attack Block problem. -Another option is Impossible Escape Glancing Blows, this allows you to grab some Attack Block Staff nodes & Sanctum of Thought which is quite nice. CRAFTING STUFFS STAFF CRAFTING -Acquire ilvl 84 Battery Staff, this is for T1 Spell Damage chance... which may not even happen, ilvl 82 can work as well but you won't have the chance to get "lucky" with T1 Spell Damage. -Use Fossils until you get +2 Level to Spell Skill Gems. Aetheric, Shuddering, and Corroded are best here. -Use Fracturing Orb until you get +2 Fractured. You can try to save failed attempts by recombing with another Battery Staff. (the bases are cheaper than the Fracturing Orb) -If Recombining make sure to Harvest Chaos Reforge on a different unfailed base until you get +4 Chaos, this is for the chance to get lucky with recombine and hit +2/+4 on this step instead. (it's pretty common to hit +4 from Harvest) -Once you Fracture +2 Spells, use Chaos Harvest Reforge until you get +4, this usually happens pretty quickly. Very rarely you can get +4 Chaos Spells & Spell Damage on this step, this is how mine got crafted specifically. -Use Orb of Annulment as needed to have 1 Open Prefix and 1 Open Suffix. -Craft Prefixes Cannot be Changed & Use a Veiled Chaos Orb, Allflame bench can be used here. This can be a very RNG part of the craft as you need to both hit a Prefix unveil and also unveil Chaos Damage + Skill Effect Duration or Spell DMG. -If you failed, the only option is to use another Orb of Annulment and try again until you hit. Repeat steps if you Annul the +4 Chaos. -Once Prefixes are done, you can work on Suffixes. Luckily Chaos Multi is very easy to gurantee here. -Use Prefixes Cannot be Changed craft again & Scour off any suffixes. -Craft Prefixes Cannot be Changed AGAIN once it's just Prefixes & no suffixes. -Harvest craft Remove Modifier & Add Chaos Modifier. (You can technically use Chaos Reforge instead, which is cheaper but this has a 1 in 10 chance to fill, which would then potentially ruin the Prefixes.) -Do this until you are happy. Higher Tiers of Chaos Multiplier are rarer so this step can take a lot of divines if you want T1 or T2. -Anytime you craft the suffix make sure to block Spell Crit and use an Exalted, even if the Chaos roll is low. This is for the small chance to hit generic DoT multi, Cast Speed, or one of the Block Rolls. -If you hit T1 or T2 Chaos DoT multi make sure to use the Allflame bench for the Exalted. Keep trying until you get one of the above modifiers. -Last modifier can be crafted Block or Spell Block. BODY ARMOR -This is the item that you should focus on first if you want to go CI. CI is less max hit on POB but its quite a bit more comfy because you don't have life regen with Zealot's Oath, this makes it so you have use life flask constantly as hybrid. -Later on CI also outscales hybrid on max hits but this requires good gear. Crafting Process -Acquire ilvl 86 Twilight Regalia (this is for t1% roll) -Optional, add Orb of Remembrance for Memory Threads, these can be used later to attempt to upgrade lower tier rolls or slam a good suffix. You'll need a higher amount, ideally 50+ though this can be expensive. -IF you used Orb of Remembrance craft a bench modifier and use a regal. This will make it rare so you can do the next steps, you will lose some memory strands, this is normal. -Use Dense Fossils until you hit good tiers of % ES, Flat ES, and Hybrid % ES. -If you hit a chest with a combination that is close to T1/T1/T1 but not quite you can attempt to upgrade with Orb of Unraveling, this consumes all of the memory threads however and can be very RNG. -Once you have good Prefixes, there is a couple of options, at this point it's pretty much impossible to brick with Eldritch Currency. -The cheapest way to finish suffixes is to use Eldritch Chaos along while making sure that Eater of Worlds is the dominant implicit. (this just means it has Eater influence higher than Exarch, you should only add Eater at this point) -Eldritch Chaos until you hit preferred suffixes, you can use Exalted if you want as needed. Ideally you get a high INT roll along with some resistances or Life Regen. (for Zealot's Oath, but only if you have Mageblood) -You can use the Allflame bench for the suffixes if you hit one good suffix with Eldritch Chaos and need to slam. Normal Exalted is preferred over Foulborn just because it has more options, make sure to block Faster Recharge on bench first. -Last but not least you can use Allflame mechanic to add implicits, sacred orb, or divine as needed. HELMET -This slot can add a LOT of damage if you get +1 Power Charge and later on -Chaos Resistance. Low Budget -Low Budget you can go for either +1 Power Charge (Warlord influence) or -Chaos Resistance (Hunter influence) later on you use Awakener Orb to get both. -Low Budget is generally just Alt Spamming for +Power Charge and then using Allflame to attempt to get Resists / High Armor/ES - crafted Armor/ES is pretty good here. High Budget -Buy a overquality Divine Crown base, the higher, the better. -Use Warlord's Exalted Orb to add influence. -Scour and use Orb of Remembrance until you hit 60+ Memory Strands. -Bench craft anything + Regal to make it rare. -Harvest Reforge any 50 cost reroll until you get +1 Power Charge as the only influence modifier. (this is for Awakener Orb later) -Make the +1 Power Charge the only prefix and craft "Prefixes cannot be Changed" and scour. This will make it a 1 mod blue item. (This whole craft is to save memory strands for later step) -Buy a second Divine Crown, this time with Hunter Influence. -Reforge Chaos on Harvest Bench until you hit -Chaos Resistance & another influence modifier. (this is so you can Elevate the -Chaos Resistance with Orb of Dominance) -Use Orb of Dominance on the Hunter Influence Helmet until you get -12 Chaos Resistance. -Once you have both Helmet bases setup properly Beast Lock the +1 Power Charge Helmet. This is a Hinekora Lock essentially but for magic bases. The beasts required are Black Morrigan & Craicic Croaker -Use Awakener Orb on the Hunter Influence Base and *HOVER* over the +1 Power Charge Helmet. DO NOT USE unless it has good rolls. -If it has a bad outcome you can use a Sacred Orb / Chromatic Orb / Whatever else to reset the outcome and try again. -Do this until you have good ES/ARMOR modifiers, keep in mind you can craft % Armor/ES if it has good flat ARM/ES. You'll ideally want good suffixes too but might be worth using an Allflame slam if the item is very good with 1 missing suffix. RING -Helical Ring with Delirium Essence is generally the preferred endgame ring. You can use Mists on it, but I have not used done this. Touch of Kalandra is good if you have a good ring and want to copy it. -If you can get your hands on a +1 Power Charge implicit ring this can be a nice alternative, Le Heup is a good unique base for this, but there is a decent amount of good outcomes. Rare Rings are actually the best for it but can get very expensive. -Technically you can get a Helical Ring with +1 Power Charge along with Gilded Fossil to replace it but this is nearly impossible. (+1 Power Charge Corrupt is extremely rare) Helical Ring Craft -Start by using Essence of Delirium until you hit perfectly divined, or if you want a good secondary stat to improve your odds at the next step: which is to Fracture. -Use Fracturing Orb with the Allflame Bench, ideally you hit the Delirium DoT Multi. -Use Deafening Essence of Zeal until you hit good suffixes, ideally T1 Attributes. Resistance can be good, especially if you do not have a Mageblood. -Get open prefix ideally, you may have to use an Annulment Orb, in this case use the Allflame bench again. (If you have really good suffixes) -Craft either -Mana to Channeling or Flat ES. DAY 1 NOTES LEVELING TIPS -Kinetic Fussillade is an ability that needs flat damage, so look for a good wand with flat ele, gloves/rings ect help -Make sure you don't hold the button down, you need to press and release fast, or press a few times and release without attacking for a second. -The ability will be delayed if you don't do it properly resulting in BIG dps loss. SPELLSLINGER SETUP -Changed links slightly, better for 5-Link swap. -Essence Drain goes with Soulrend in 5-Link -Contagion goes with Coldsnap, make sure Contagion is the first gem in the chain (so it goes before cold snap, important for Essence Drain) SQUISHY EARLY -You can drop Cold Snap and run Mana Mastery in order to run either Tempest Shield or Flesh & Stone, this helps quite a bit. -Later on get Enduring Compusure or Anoint Agressive Bastion, endurance charges are big! -Attack Block + Block is the way to feel tanky in maps, focus on block jewels / anoints early, also %block on shield big. WHEN TO SWAP?! -There is no set answer, I actually stayed slinger until t16s, but you can definitely swap way earlier if you want. -Cane does ramp quite well with Frenzy Ralakesh + Badge but if you get enough cast speed from Moonstone rings ect, you should be fine to swap earlier. EB IS DROPPED ONCE YOU GET CANE -Cane has enough recovery to sustain itself once you start getting Power Charges (note you don't really want them before Cane) RESERVATION WITH CANE -You need Soverighty to run the Mana-Infused staff + Malevolence + Flesh & Stone. CHAOS DOT NOTES EARLY LEVELING -Best way to early level is probably Kinetic Bolt into Kinetic Fusillade until 28 (Searing Heat + fire mastery is good early but more respec points) -Check vendors for Chaos Multi & +Chaos Gems for later on. You're much more likely to see them early on than later. -You can rotate two Kinetic Fusillades early game. -At 28 Slinger comes online, Wandslinger nodes + reservation is important. Mana also becomes more annoying, so start heading towards EB/MoM + Vile Bastion from first Lab. -You can drop the Cold nodes at start whenever you want to save a few points. -Early Slinger DMG is mostly multiple skills + Decay + Serpentine Spellslinger -Slinger is good for all of the campaign, and early white maps - this build will be swapping to Self-Cast in early maps. -If you can find Alleopathy, Blight will be insane at level 41. -Get Bane of Condemnation ASAP for single target. EARLY SPELLSLINGER SETUP + SUSTAIN -First Spellslinger with Contagion + Essence Drain. -Second Spellslinger with Cold Snap + Soulrend. -Add supports whenever you can. -Sustain comes from EB + Vile Bastion + MoM SELF-CASTING ONCE YOU GET CANE OF UNRAVELLING -Once you get to maps you can swap off Spellslinger. (or whenever it falls off) -Cast Speed + AoE is the main bottleneck to swap. -Cane grants a lot of extra cast speed once you start power charge stacking - so you can wait until Uber lab before swapping to Staff SHIELD CHARGE VS STAFF MOBILITY -Mobility is a lot worse on Staff, however, it becomes good endgame with Badge (CDR for mobility) + Automation + Phase Run (or Withering Step) -You can Shield Charge + Wand if you want, but Staff does significantly more DPS after the patch, they are massively buffed. -Cane of Unravelling is also a very strong early option, but you will need to rely on walking + Flame Dash until later. (You can try Leap Slam or Frostblink of Wintry Blast - but results may vary) POWER CHARGE STACKING -You may be wondering why this build Power Charge stacking when Chaos DOT can't crit. -This build uses Forbidden Power & Charge Mastery to stack up %damage increase & AoE from charges. -Later on Millitant Faith + Inner Conviction is used to gain 3% more spell damage per Power Charge. -Ralakesh (FRENZY VERSION, NOT POWER!) comes into play after that in order to make use of Badge of the Brotherhood, for massive Frenzy gain. BATTERY STAFF OR EB POWER CHARGE GAIN -If you use EB or Battery Staff, you may need to use Power Charge chest implicit + Power Charge Channel node to generate Power Charges on Single Target. -Early on the Power Charge per 200 mana spent is the main way to generate, but if you spend ES instead, it won't work. -Power Charge on kill will keep you topped off for mapping.