Element Master 2.2 - 5+ Billion Crits | GR 44+ - Wizard - Diablo III Builds

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Element Master 2.2 - 5+ Billion Crits | GR 44+

by ThisClockwork last updated Apr 8, 2015 ( Patch 2.2 )

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Skills

Shock Pulse Piercing Orb
- Shock Pulse
This is a Signature spell. Signature spells are free to cast.

Release a medium range pulse of 3 unpredictable charges of electricity that deal 194% weapon damage as Lightning.
Piercing Orb

Merge the bolts in a single giant orb that oscillates forward dealing 214% weapon damage as Lightning to everything it hits.
Energy Twister Wicked Wind
- Energy Twister
Cost: 35 Arcane Power

Unleash a twister of pure energy that deals 1525% weapon damage as Arcane over 6 seconds to everything in its path.
Wicked Wind

Energy Twister no longer travels but spins in place, dealing 835% weapon damage as Arcane over 6 seconds to everything caught in it.
Blizzard Frozen Solid
- Blizzard
Cost: 40 Arcane Power

Call down shards of ice that deal 1075% weapon damage as Cold over 6 seconds to enemies in a 12 yard radius. Multiple casts in the same area from the same caster do not stack.
Frozen Solid

Enemies caught in the Blizzard have a 100% chance to be Frozen for 2.5 seconds.
Familiar Arcanot
- Familiar
Cost: 20 Arcane Power

Summon a Familiar that attacks your enemies for 240% weapon damage as Arcane. This companion cannot be targeted or damaged by enemies. Lasts 10 minutes.
Arcanot

While the Familiar is active, you regenerate 4.5 Arcane Power every second.
Hydra Mammoth Hydra
- Hydra
Cost: 15 Arcane Power

Summon a multi-headed Hydra for 15 seconds that attacks enemies with bolts of fire dealing 165% weapon damage as Fire.

Only one Hydra may be active at a time.
Mammoth Hydra

Summon a Mammoth Hydra that breathes a river of flame at nearby enemies, dealing 330% weapon damage per second as Fire to enemies caught on the burning ground.
Magic Weapon Force Weapon
- Magic Weapon
Cost: 25 Arcane Power

Imbue your weapon with magical energy, granting it 10% increased damage. Lasts 10 minutes.
Force Weapon

Increase the damage bonus of Magic Weapon to 20% damage.

Elemental Exposure
- Elemental Exposure
Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause them to take 5% more damage from your attacks for 5 seconds. Each different damage type applies a stack, stacking up to 4 times.

Elemental damage from your weapon contributes to Elemental Exposure.
Unstable Anomaly
- Unstable Anomaly
When you receive fatal damage, you instead gain a shield equal to 400% of your maximum Life for 5 seconds and release a shockwave that knocks enemies back and Stuns them for 3 seconds.

This effect may occur once every 60 seconds.
Dominance
- Dominance
Killing an enemy grants a shield that absorbs 2% of your Life in damage for 3 seconds. This effect can stack up to 10 times.

Refreshing Dominance will set the shield to its maximum possible potency and each stack will increase its total duration by 0.5 seconds.
Glass Cannon
- Glass Cannon
Increase all damage done by 15%, but decrease Armor and resistances by 10%.

Items

Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom

Set Helm

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Chance Increased by 4.5–6.0%
+3 Random Magic Properties
Empty Socket
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+330–524 Dexterity

+330–524 Strength

+330–524 Intelligence

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 750% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.
Firebird's Pinions

Set Shoulders

Primary Stats

+416–500 Intelligence
Reduces all resource costs by 5.0–8.0%.
+4 Random Magic Properties

Firebird's Finery
Firebird's Plume
Firebird's Pinions
Firebird's Breast
Firebird's Down
Firebird's Tarsi
Firebird's Talons
Firebird's Eye
(2) Set: When you die, a meteor falls from the sky and revives you. This effect has a 60 second cooldown.
(4) Set: Dealing Fire damage with one of your skills causes the enemy to take 1000% weapon damage as Fire per second for 3 seconds. This effect can be repeated a second and third time by different skills. If an enemy is burning due to three different skills simultaneously the enemy will Ignite, taking 3000% weapon damage per second until they die.
(6) Set: Your damage is increased by 120% and damage taken reduced by 3% for each enemy that is Ignited. This effect can stack up to 20 times. You always receive the maximum bonus whenever a nearby Elite monster is Ignited.
Tal Rasha's Allegiance

Set Amulet

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Damage Increased by 51 - 55%

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 2000% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.

+ 4 Random Magic Properties
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit

Set Chest Armor

398 - 472 Armor

Primary Stats

Sockets (1)
+130 - 149 Vitality

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 2000% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.

+ 2 Random Magic Properties
Ranslor's Folly

Legendary Bracers

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Chance Increased by 4.5–6.0%
+3 Random Magic Properties

Secondary Stats

Energy Twister periodically pulls in lesser enemies within 30 yards.
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+416–500 Dexterity

+416–500 Strength

+416–500 Intelligence
Magefist

Legendary Gloves

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Chance Increased by 3.0–4.0%
+3 Random Magic Properties

Secondary Stats

Fire skills deal 15–20% increased damage.
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+128–163 Dexterity

+128–163 Strength

+128–163 Intelligence
Tal Rasha's Brace

Set Belt

Primary Stats

+81–85 Resistance to All Elements
+4 Random Magic Properties
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+220–349 Dexterity

+220–349 Strength

+220–349 Intelligence

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 750% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.
Ring of Royal Grandeur

Legendary Ring

Primary Stats

Attack Speed Increased by 2.0–3.0%
+27–60 Life per Hit
+2 Random Magic Properties

Secondary Stats

Reduces the number of items needed for set bonuses by 1 (to a minimum of 2).
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+24–29 Dexterity

+24–29 Strength

+24–29 Intelligence
Stone of Jordan

Legendary Ring

Primary Stats

Increases damage against elites by 25 - 30%
+90 - 104 Maximum Mana

Secondary Stats

+10 - 12 Maximum Fury
+7 - 8 Maximum Discipline
+10 - 12 Maximum Arcane Power
Increases Spirit Regeneration by 1 - 2.166667 per Second
Adds 2 - 3% to Fire Damage
Adds 1% to Cold Damage
Adds 1% to Holy Damage
Adds 1% to Lightning Damage
Adds 1% to Poison Damage
Adds 1% to Arcane Damage

+ 2 Random Magic Properties
Devastator

Legendary Mace

Primary Stats

+(981–1199)–(1175–1490) Fire Damage
Fire skills deal 15–20% more damage.
+4 Random Magic Properties
Firebird's Eye

Set Source

Primary Stats

+(262–328)–(263–394) Damage
Fire skills deal 15–20% more damage.
+626–750 Intelligence
+4 Random Magic Properties

Firebird's Finery
Firebird's Plume
Firebird's Pinions
Firebird's Breast
Firebird's Down
Firebird's Tarsi
Firebird's Talons
Firebird's Eye
(2) Set: When you die, a meteor falls from the sky and revives you. This effect has a 60 second cooldown.
(4) Set: Dealing Fire damage with one of your skills causes the enemy to take 1000% weapon damage as Fire per second for 3 seconds. This effect can be repeated a second and third time by different skills. If an enemy is burning due to three different skills simultaneously the enemy will Ignite, taking 3000% weapon damage per second until they die.
(6) Set: Your damage is increased by 120% and damage taken reduced by 3% for each enemy that is Ignited. This effect can stack up to 20 times. You always receive the maximum bonus whenever a nearby Elite monster is Ignited.

More Details

Head
- Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
- Stat Priority: CHD Int Socket
Shoulders
- Firebird's Pinions
- Stat Priority: Int
Amulet
- Tal Rasha's Allegiance
- Countess Julia's Cameo
- Xephirian Amulet
- Stat Priority: None
Torso
- Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
- Stat Priority: CHD
Wrists
- Ranslor's Folly
- Stat Priority: CHC Fire %
Hands
- Magefist
- Stat Priority: CHD CHC Int
Waist
- Tal Rasha's Brace
- The Witching Hour
- Stat Priority: None
Legs
- Stat Priority: None
Feet
- Stat Priority: None
Rings
- Ring of Royal Grandeur
- Stone of Jordan
- Unity
- Stat Priority: CHC Socket CHD
Weapon
- Devastator
- Serpent's Sparker
- The Furnace
- Stat Priority: Socket Int
Offhand
- Firebird's Eye
- Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
- Stat Priority: Int CHC

Legendary Gems
- Bane of the Trapped
  Bane of the Trapped
  
  Gem
  
  Primary Stats
  
  Increase damage against enemies under the effects of control-impairing effects by 15.00%.
  Gain an aura that reduces the movement speed of enemies within 15 yards by 30%. (Requires Rank 25)
- Bane of the Powerful
  Bane of the Powerful
  
  Gem
  
  Secondary Stats
  
  Gain 20% increased damage for 30 seconds after killing an elite pack.
- Gem of Efficacious Toxin
  Gem of Efficacious Toxin
  
  Gem
  
  Primary Stats
  
  Poison all enemies hit for 2000% weapon damage over 10 seconds.
  All enemies you poison take 10% increased damage from all sources and deal 10% less damage. (Requires Rank 25)

This build revolves around the use of the Tal Rasha's Elements set and it's new set bonuses in patch 2.2. The build attempts to maximize the damage output of the meteors summoned by Tal Rasha's set. Please keep in mind that this is a preliminary build that I've put together based on some game play in the public test realm. I will be updating this build as I play the new patch and discover better item combinations so be sure to stay tuned [feedback is also always helpful and appreciated!].

Head

Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom - Seems to be the best option at this point. Getting % meteor damage is key for this item, critical chance is also a high priority. A socket is really only needed if you want to use a ruby for experience or an amethyst for life %. A diamond is useless because none of your skills rely on cooldown.

Shoulders

Firebird's Pinions - There could be better options in the future. I use this right now because of the (2) set bonus of Firebird's provides you with an extra death. Resource cost reduction is probably one of the stats, other than main stat, that you want to go for; % hydra damage can be helpful as well, but not mandatory.

Amulets

Tal Rasha's Allegiance - Depending on whether you're using Tal Rasha's offhand, the amulet may be required for the full set bonuses. As always, critical chance and damage are high priority, followed by a socket and then either % fire damage or intelligence.

Countess Julia's Cameo - If you are able to get Tal Rasha's full set bonus without an amulet, this amulet offers excellent protection at higher greater rifts from arcane enemies and that dreaded jailer insta-kill. Same stat priorities.

Xephirian Amulet - Once again, the protection from lightning affixes like thunderstorm can save you a lot of headache. Same reasoning and stats as the cameo.

Torso

Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit - Required for the full set bonus. While attack speed is inherent to the item, it (or another bum stat) can be swapped out for reduced damage against elites.

Wrists

Ranslor's Folly - This new item really makes this build shine. With the Wicked Wind rune on energy twister, you can drop pull points wherever you want for more effective grouping and positioning. Critical chance is always great, and % fire damage if you are lacking it on other equipment.

Hands

Magefists - I always love Magefists. The extra stat on the gloves makes them exceptional, along with the % fire damage they provide. Critical chance and damage are key again, along with reduced resource cost being helpful as well.

Tal Rasha's Grasp - These gloves are not in the Diablo Fans build database yet which is why they are unlisted. Useful if you want to use a different amulet or belt.

Waist

Tal Rasha's Brace - Used to achieve the full set bonus. Intelligence, armor and life % give you some survivability.

The Witching Hour - A more offensive belt. I would recommend this if you are using Tal Rasha's offhand or gloves and can fit it in.

Legs

Tal Rasha's Stride - Probably the best in slot item. Two sockets and intelligence are the most you need to worry about for stats.

Hexing Pants of Mr. Yan - Again if you can fit these in with maintaining Tal Rasha's full set bonus, they could be interesting for there increased damage while moving, as well as the resource regeneration. They required a bit more of an attentive play style to be used.

Feet

Nilfur's Boast - These boots are easily the best possible option. They make Tal Rash's meteor proc godly. On top of it's amazing passive ability, you can also stack additional meteor damage on them as well.

Rings

Ring of Royal Grandeur - Using this ring allows you to use both Tal Rasha's full set while also getting the (2) set bonus from Firebird's Finery.

Stone of Jordan - Again stacks more Fire Damage %.

Unity - You only need this ring for solo play. Make sure you have one on your follower as well, and they should also have a relic that prevents them from dying.

Weapon

I'd like the just say that I haven't really found an optimal weapon yet for this build. I've just been using the strongest weapons that have been available to me.

Devastator - Always a great choice for two reasons: it provides additional fire damage and is craftable which makes finding an ancient version a little more attainable than other weapons.

Serpent's Sparker - One of my favourite weapons. Since we're stacking fire damage, having the second mammoth hydra active increases your chances of Tal Rasha's set procing a fire damage based meteor which will hit for scary amounts of damage.

The Furnace - I haven't had much of a chance to test this one, but I assume that using Tal Rasha's Grasp to achieve the full set and using this weapon will also yield some massive critical hits from the meteors.

Offhand

Firebird's Eye - Currently using this as the second piece of Firebird's Finery for the extra death making it more optional than mandatory. The fire damage is nice. Look for 10% critical chance and then meteor damage if possible.

Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare - Helpful for playing around with replacing other pieces of Tal Rasha's (i.e. replacing the pants with Hexing Pants). Again look for 10% critical chance and meteor damage.

Legendary Gems

Bane of the Trapped - A no brainer. Between constantly pulling enemies with Wicked Wind and freezing them solid with Blizzard, you will always have this damage buff active.

Bane of the Powerful - Always a great choice. Let's you smash elite packs faster, and if you move at a respectable pace you should always have the additional damage buff active as well.

Gem of Efficacious Toxin - This one is a maybe. I'm sure there are better possibilities. I primarily chose it because it provides an additional 10% damage buff to your meteors against enemies. The DoT also can help clear out trash mobs.

Paragon Priorities

Core

Movement Speed
Primary Stat
Maximum Resource
Vitality

Offense

Critical Hit Chance
Critical Hit Damage
Attack Speed
Cooldown Reduction

Defense

Armor
Resist All
Life
Life Regeneration

Utility

Resource Cost Reduction
Life on Hit
Area Damage
Gold Find

Core

Movement Speed - Only put enough points into this category to have 25% movement speed between paragon points and equipment.

Primary Stat - Pump everything else into Intelligence for maximum damage output.

Maximum Resource - Only necessary if you are finding that you are having problems with running out of Arcane Power.

Vitality - Only required if you are in need of more life.

Offense

Critical Chance and Critical Damage helps maximize your meteor criticals. Attack speed increases your hydra attack speed, helping proc that fire meteor. Cooldown reduction should be last as it is irrelevant to this skill set up.

Defense

Armor - Helpful for damage reduction as your resistances should be high enough with being an Intelligence hero.

Resist All - Provides more damage reduction once armor is maxed out.

Life % - Increases your health pool.

Life Regeneration - Not needed. It's the last thing you should put points into.

Utility

Resource Cost Reduction - Helps out with managing casting multiple skills as you move from pack to pack.

Life on Hit - Adds some healing to the build.

Area Damage - More helpful than Gold Find but not crucial.

Gold Find - Last thing to put point into.

Build Guide

I believe that this build is going to become the new meta for wizard with the 2.2 patch days from launch. Not to mention that I find it to be a lot more fun to use than the Firebird's set up, you actually feel like more of a wizard because you get to better use all of the elements in your arsenal. While Firebird's play style was focused on always moving forward through enemies and letting the DoT kill them off eventually, this build focusing on taking enemies one pack at a time and smashing them into oblivion.

Your damage primarily comes from the meteors dropped by Tal Rasha's (2) set bonus. On top of that, cycling through the 4 elements in your skill bar give you the maximum utility of the (6) set bonus, effectively boosting the damage of your meteors by 600% when at maximum stacks after casting each element. On top of that, Nilfur's Boast gives you an minimum of an additional 100% damage boost to meteor, with the possibility of up to a 200% damage boost when hitting 3 enemies or less (awesome for rift guardians).

As you can see in my video, I follow a general rotation of my skills that allows for maximum crowd control of enemies while also dropping massive amounts of damage at the same time. My rotation is Energy Twister -> Blizzard -> Shock Pulse -> Mammoth Hydra. This rotation allows you to pull in surrounding enemies, freeze them solid in place, and then light them up with massive criticals from the fire meteors proc'd by Mammoth Hydra. Shock Pulse is more used for getting that (6) set bonus buff from Tal Rasha's so it doesn't really need to be spammed, just used to attain the additional damage stack. Other than that, it's basically a rinse and repeat of this rotation until everything has exploded.

Before commenting just please keep in mind that this is a preliminary build. While it still makes greater rift 44 look like a cake walk, I believe that there is still a lot of room for improvement. The equipment I'm using in the video was just the stuff I could scrape together in the PTR to get this build working. I appreciate all feedback and will be working on keep this build updated with the best equipment and tactics.

I always try to respond to all the comments so if you have any questions please feel free to post them!

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