Build Guide
Patch 2.6.1 buffs the 6p of Unhollowed Essence from 40% to 100% damage per point of Discipline that you have. This buff increases the power of UE by approximately 2.5x. With the buff to UE, this build should be able to clear approximately 6 tiers higher than before this patch. This build is made possible by the Hellcat Waistguard. The belt give's roughly a 50% chance to bounce up to 5 times, gaining damage on each bounce. I tested and can confirm that the damage bonus of 50% on each bounce and final bonus of 800% is indeed MULTIPLICATIVE with the original grenade damage of skill. The location of where the grenades bounce is random, but the resulting damage is huge.
This build uses Danetta's instead of Fortress Ballista with offhand. As a result you will have nearly permanent vault for extreme mobility. Also Danetta's leaves clones, stuns and knocks back mobs as you vault through them. This provides a great defensive benefit. Also since vaults will now cost hatred instead of discipline it will be possible to have max discipline at all times for more damage from the UE 6p bonus. As another benefit, vault will proc Focus/Restraint because it consumes hatred and the action shot rune deals damage. Just make sure to vault enough to keep up the F/R buff.
Gearing/Game Play - (The How)
Make sure to have at least 36.7% cdr for permanent Vengeance. Tactical Advantage passive is desirable to use for speed runs. If there is a reliable source of slowing then cull the weak can be a better choice than ambush in higher GR's. A hellfire amulet is preferred but a well rolled immunity amulet (especially arcane) is a fine choice too. For speed rifting Nemesis bracers are recommended if toughness allows. For pushing GR's use Wraps of Clarity. For bounties there is no better choice than the Warzechian Armguards. As with all UE builds, more discipline means more damage, therefore strive for maximum discipline on both weapons and cloak. There are break points for grenades, which can be found here: Grenade Break Points. Adjust gear/paragon/enchantress skills to make sure your attack speed is just on the high side of a Break Point. The 21 frame Break Point means the grenades will attack at a rate of 60/21 (In this game there are 60 frames a sec for actions) or 2.86 attacks per sec.
An alternative for pushing higher tier GR's would be to use a Traveler's Pledge, Compass Rose and Convention of Elements instead of Focus, Restraint and Hellfire Amulet. The advantage of using Endless Walk & CoE over F/R & HF would be potentially more damage while staying in place, more damage reduction while moving and not having to vault to proc F/R. I have found that using F/R & HF is superior for speed runs due to more consistent damage from the always up F/R buffs and to there being very little time spent stationary in these runs, which would lower the damage output of Endless Walk.
It goes w/o saying that it is imperative to keep up UE's 4p bonus thereby maintaining 2.5x toughness and 60% more damage (which is multiplicative with 6p bonus).
Make sure to spam Vengeance, bladed armor and wolf when off cooldown. The constant activation of these skills can be achieved by num locking them. Beyond that, all that is required is to vault for mobility and fire grenades to attack and regenerate hatred for more vaults. Its really that simple. You do need to be aware of your position relative to mobs and place yourself at least 10 yd away from mobs every 8 sec to keep up UE 4p. I personally use vault actively to stun elites and RG's to interrupt their special attacks. This can be be extremely helpful in surviving nasty fights. Note that while vaulting you enter into a smoke screen like state that renders you invulnerable to incoming damage for the brief time you're traveling from point to point.
Summary/Wrap Up - (The Results)
The build is very simple to play and a hell of a lot of fun. It gives insane mobility, good damage and high survivability. This build will not be used to compete for pushing the highest GR's, but its more than capable of clearing well into the 90's with no problem. For speed farming it is superb. GR 80's are taking 3-4 min to clear. Normal rifts are fast and fun. Split farming 4man T13 bounties is very efficient. In short, outside of bleeding edge GR pushing, this build can and will do everything you need and want within Diablo 3.
I have thoroughly enjoyed playing and testing out this build and I hope you will find as much enjoyment with it as I have. Please leave a comment below if you have any questions. Please Upvote if you find this guide useful. Thanks.
It would seem that having fewer bounces may actually improve performance when running super speed runs. That is because of 2 reasons. One, the distance from the initial explosion that the grenades bounce may be not as far. Two, the final bounce with its massive damage explodes sooner, resulting in possibly quicker kills.
That being said, if the belt has higher number of bounces, the the total potential damage output is higher per cast of grenades. Therefore, for fights that are not quick, as in higher GR's, I would say a belt with more bounces is better.
So having a belt with only 3 bounces is not as bad as it might first seem. One could always split the difference and get a 4 bounce belt that would be versatile for both conditions and those in between.
No you don't get the bonus damage if the bounce chance doesn't proc.
I had the same Horrible luck with Hunters Wrath and Kadala (There is a special place in hell for that woman). And of course, when she finally did decide to give me one, she gave me 2 nearly back to back...
Well, I was able to hit 67 with very sub optimal gear, and no Hunters Wrath. I am going to push again tonight since I finally got a Hunters Wrath and see how it goes. Having properly itemized gear, and eventually ancient and augmented will greatly improve your performance as well obviously.
Also, I noticed that BigJohnasty cleared 82 with this build on Hardcore, congrats man! I have to say I like your latest choice in Amulet and would suggest adding it to the build
Great build! One question I have is my Focus is proccing but my Restraint is not, I cant figure out why.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Tyrealô-1845/hero/83588138
Damage: 1,078,437
Toughness: 25,705,936
CDR: 39.99 %
Sorry this is in reply to something i posted last night about having trouble. I forgot to quote the original post
I managed to bring it up on my phone, but unable to inspect each piece. It is saying your Max Discipline is 51? is this correct, or is it not accounting for the 20 from Invigoration making it 71?
I wish I could help, but I am fairly limited right now, I am sure when Johny gets a chance, he can help you look at what can be rerolled, and which pieces to prioritize for upgrades according to current stats vs. desired stats.
Try to get a helm with dex, vit and crit chance. The HF amulet is not good, the passive is worthless. Either get another HF or wear a better rolled amulet with either dual crit or crit and fire. You need bracers with fire dmg on them. The Danetta's Revenge is lacking discipline. Roll chakram off for armor on boots (try to get new ones with AR). Roll evasive fire off for grenades dmg on the pants. Try to get a new Hellcat Waistguard with grenades dmg on them. If you are having any issues with survivability, swap out some emeralds for diamonds in armor. With these changes I think you will notice a significant difference in performance.
Just to give you an idea of what is possible with a dps of just under 1.1 mil as you have, that is the same dps that I had when I cleared a GR 80 earlier this season. So with well optimized gear and game play, you should be able to take it up to a fairly high clear.
Love this build BJ, switching over from the Dawn-Fortress combo. Couple of questions:
1. Endless walk has been a recurring theme in this thread (and what more appropriate name for this build!) but also allows us to slot COE to make up for the damage cf. FnR.
2. Why do you say this build is not for pushing Grifts? Is it because of the limitations of the build (damage or defence - I do miss the protection of Fortress) or because of the inherent weakness of Grenades relative to the FoK builds?)
Hello, thank you for your guide, it has helped a lot. I just have a question about my two weapons, and what to re roll on them.
https://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Loyrl-1904/hero/83544326
Thank you.
Have a question
For offhand, does higher dmg on weapon increase dmg on granades?
and if lets say i get a anicent with 10 or 11 disc will it be better then an non anicent with 12 disc?