Dominating Blow League Start Build Guide for 3.18

Likely Questions: Q What do I annoint? A Whatever you need. If you need damage though, you're basically restricted to 'Gravepact' as there's just very little damage on the tree. Gravepact is a fine enough node, though. Combat Stamina is a wonderful, cheap survivability option. If you somehow end up with more blight oils than common sense and can get +1 strike anywhere else, I guess Tribal Fury is fine until you do find it, in which case I hope you didn't need those oils somewhere else. A reservation efficiency notable might make running Flesh and Stone more tolerable as well, because I'll be honest, it's a bit rough (but can also be cut 'cause it's not a lot). +1 Curse can be fine, but you don't really have an easy way of applying it and it would only be defensive anyway. Q Is Ashes of the Stars good for this build? A HELL YEAH! +1 to All Skills Gems is better on just a generically good amulet, considering you can get other very valuable stats, but Ashes of the Stars is a fantastic augment to your DPS in a way that's relatively easy to obtain. Q What can I absolutely not cut? A Resolute Technique, Enduring Bond, and minion survivability nodes. You want the survivability on your minions; please don't cut that for a gajillion DPS. Your spectres are going to die, and anything that hates on your minions is just absolutely going to make your life hell. Resolute Technique shouldn't need an explanation, but if you had one too many paint chips growing up, please understanding that missing your target means you have no Sentinels of Dominance to beat people up for you. Just like Resolute Technique, Enduring Bond specifically helps you keep your minions around (it's also decent damage, why are you complaining) and basically it just helps you through immunity phases. Additionally, Convocation Cooldown Recovery Masteyr is like... your 'feel good'. I want to say that technically this could be removed, but honestly convocating often is so important it's better if you just assume it's not. Q Can my big scythy goth girlfriend be in the build? A As a matter of fact, you *can* you use Summon Reaper. It's not as good, but also it's really not "terrible". It's nice having a button to throw at things while clearing that really just 'gets it done', and honestly it might even be a faster clear option in certain situations. Big bleeds feel good on boss fights that force you to be evasive. It looks cool. I could never recommend it in a build guide though, because the mouth-breathers who are cutting the armor and resistance from the build to get a bigger dps number would dox me and feed my dog chocolate for wasting their time. Q I saw another Dominating Blow build guide and it was way better. A First of all, that's not a question. That said, go ahead and find a Dominating Blow build guide that 'gets you there' for cheaper, because this is a LEAGUESTARTER. There are absolutely possibilities to optimize this build for significantly more damage, likely with high ilvl cluster jewels, but that sounds expensive and a problem for future me to figure out in Dominating Blow Part 2: Electric Boogaloo. THAT SAID! So long as the 'better' guide is a Templar, transitioning from this build into that one is probably not very expensive (at least not compared to what you'd have to do to make Dominating Blow better to a significantly noticeable degree). Q What do I want on my armor? A Good question. Life, Res, Chaos Res, and more armor. Energy Shield is good if you get enough and choose to use Divine Shield. If you get enough regen, cutting points elsewhere and picking up Hearty might actually be worthwhile. Q Flasks? A You want a Quicksilver and a Granite. Everything beyond that is going to vary by player, although a basalt will let you do silly things with molten shell. DO NO EQUIP A SILVER FLASK, YOU ALREADY HAVE ONSLAUGHT! I believe that Bottle Faith the only unique flask that actually offers a DPS increase, but this is a budget build so I don't talk about or include it in the proper guide. Q Streamer X said this skill was bad. A Streamers like IMBA meta skills, because pushing top content is good for their stream. Yes, compared to Seismic Trap and Explosive Arrow, this skill isn't the greatest. It has survived for several patch cycles though and is still strong, which is something those two skills probably won't have a very easy time saying. If not during Sentinel, Chris Wilson will be along promptly at the league after to see that they are... "reworked". To this day, I am like an MKUltra sleeper waiting for someone to mention Galvanic Arrow or Shrapnel Shot while Chris Wilson is in the room, and if/when that happens, I cannot guarantee the safety of anyone present. Give me back my threshold jewel, you sick fucks.