I plan on running a Fire Shield Bash in 2.3. I am not interested in the Blessed Hammer build. Looks extremely boring to play, so i'll be seeing how far i can push the Shield Bash build. Currently i have cleared 55 (a few times). Failed 56 a few times due to too many deaths. My current setup is Fyrnace, String of Ears, Mara's, Focus and Restraint, BotT, Esoteric, Mutilation.
Not sure what cube come 2.3. I was thinking Blood Brother for weapon 100%. But for Armor and Jewelry i'm really not sure.
For Armor i feel like there really are not a lot of good choices. Leoric's Crown would be alright for another 23% Life (i use an Amethyst and not a Diamond, this build doesn't need CDR right now). 23% more life could be useful, but i don't know if it's really needed. Aside from that, i have no idea what to use.
For Jewelry i am stuck between two choices. I can take either a.) Unity or b.) OROTZ. Unity obviously gives 50% Damage reduction, but a Zodiac would give me 100% Akarat's uptime as well as 150% Armor. I'm not sure what the difference in terms of damage mitigation is between +150% Armor and -50% Damage, and this is pretty much the deciding factor.
I'm probably going to be running Fire/Roland's in 2.3 as well I just enjoy the game play too much to change. For me I think this is going to be my grand setup.
Weapon: Either Blood Brother or Furnace Cubed - I currently don't have a ancient of either so which ever I get an ancient first. I'm going to prefer the BB though, because for Xmog sake there are many more 2Hand Sword options than 2hand Axe/Hammer.
Armor: I'm thinking of running Cinder Coat for the 30% reduction on fire skills. I couldn't really find an armor slot that fit that better other than more HP from leorics.
Jewelry: I'm probably going to use Unity in solo play and use either Zodiac or CoE in group play.
I'm probably going to be running Fire/Roland's in 2.3 as well I just enjoy the game play too much to change. For me I think this is going to be my grand setup.
Weapon: Either Blood Brother or Furnace Cubed - I currently don't have a ancient of either so which ever I get an ancient first. I'm going to prefer the BB though, because for Xmog sake there are many more 2Hand Sword options than 2hand Axe/Hammer.
Armor: I'm thinking of running Cinder Coat for the 30% reduction on fire skills. I couldn't really find an armor slot that fit that better other than more HP from leorics.
Jewelry: I'm probably going to use Unity in solo play and use either Zodiac or CoE in group play.
Initially i was thinking Cindercoat too, but tbh i feel like it's a big waste. You really don't need resource cost reduction with this build. Someone else mentioned that he might be using St. Archew's Gage as it should offer some good benefit if you have really high Life/HP. I'm currently sitting at around 1300k HP so a 150% absorb shield would almost completely absorb any damage an Elite/Champ pack can do before they're dead. Right now that actually seems like the only "decent" option.
GR 55 without Unity, only String of Ears? Wow, impressive. How do you manage to survive?
I have no ancient Furnace, so my top GR with shield bash is only 45 :-(
What generator do you use for the rings affixes? If you use Punish, the Angel Hair Braid belt is one option to be cubed.
Especially if you want to have blood brother in your weapon combo. Block chance = 31% (shield) + 20% (BB) + 15% (punish)
I am not sure if you have room for Provoke (Hit me). It will be a nice 50% increased Block Chance for 4 seconds...
In my opinion, death cheat mode + 35% damage increased + 150% armor + 5 wrath generation (perma AC Prophet) >>> 50% reduced damage (Unity).
If you are able to achieve perma AC Prophet, I think Zodiac is better, but i haven't tested any PTR yet 0:-)
I have a lot of toughness on this build. Diamonds instead of Rubies, Esoteric Alteration and Mutilation Guard, Amethyst instead of Diamond in the Helm, and i use Laws of Justice - Immovable Object instead of Laws of Valor. I think i have around 82m Toughness unbuffed. Just not enough for anything higher than 55 yet.
GR 55 without Unity, only String of Ears? Wow, impressive. How do you manage to survive?
I have no ancient Furnace, so my top GR with shield bash is only 45 :-(
What generator do you use for the rings affixes? If you use Punish, the Angel Hair Braid belt is one option to be cubed.
Especially if you want to have blood brother in your weapon combo. Block chance = 31% (shield) + 20% (BB) + 15% (punish)
I am not sure if you have room for Provoke (Hit me). It will be a nice 50% increased Block Chance for 4 seconds...
In my opinion, death cheat mode + 35% damage increased + 150% armor + 5 wrath generation (perma AC Prophet) >>> 50% reduced damage (Unity).
If you are able to achieve perma AC Prophet, I think Zodiac is better, but i haven't tested any PTR yet 0:-)
I have a lot of toughness on this build. Diamonds instead of Rubies, Esoteric Alteration and Mutilation Guard, Amethyst instead of Diamond in the Helm, and i use Laws of Justice - Immovable Object instead of Laws of Valor. I think i have around 82m Toughness unbuffed. Just not enough for anything higher than 55 yet.
Wow! Don't you have wrath starving without Laws of Valor (Unstoppable Force)?
I feel that when I get the 150% IAS of the 6 Roland pieces I really need that law...
Or you prefer to go 4 Rolands+Cindercoat+Magefists or similar?
I use the 6-piece. And i don't really think i ever run into Wrath issues, except on RGs. I'll always run out of Wrath a few times if they don't spawn adds. I use Shield Glare - Zealous Glare (i think that's what it's called) to manage Wrath otherwise. And when i run out of Wrath on the RG it takes a few seconds to top it back up with my generator plus the insane Attack Speed bonus you get from Roland's set. It takes a while to get used to, but once you get the hang of things you won't really have much trouble keeping your Wrath up.
I use the 6-piece. And i don't really think i ever run into Wrath issues, except on RGs. I'll always run out of Wrath a few times if they don't spawn adds. I use Shield Glare - Zealous Glare (i think that's what it's called) to manage Wrath otherwise. And when i run out of Wrath on the RG it takes a few seconds to top it back up with my generator plus the insane Attack Speed bonus you get from Roland's set. It takes a while to get used to, but once you get the hang of things you won't really have much trouble keeping your Wrath up.
Slaytanicc how do you kill anything quick enough at Grift 55 with no IAS law, no rubies.. seems like your more defensively geared.. I admit my S3 Fire Shield bash 'sader feels a bit like a glass cannon sometimes.. but my biggest trouble is not being able to kill things quick enough to do the Grift.. 45 is my highest solo.. I dont have a furnace either tho..
That being said, lots of great ideas being tossed around here.. looking forward to Fire Rolands 2.3
Physical shield bash is better than fire. The phys rune gives so much dps, its really powerfull. Having an ancient furnace on main, and blood brother on cube will really melt rift guardians, especially in group parties with the extra damage provided by supports, for speed runs. Cubed ring would be convention and armor hexing pants. I do 16-17 billion per crit witrh my current setup on Rift guardian, non ptr. I wonder how much it will increase in next patch, but i think its gonna be a lot!
Physical shield bash is better than fire. The phys rune gives so much dps, its really powerfull. Having an ancient furnace on main, and blood brother on cube will really melt rift guardians, especially in group parties with the extra damage provided by supports, for speed runs. Cubed ring would be convention and armor hexing pants. I do 16-17 billion per crit witrh my current setup on Rift guardian, non ptr. I wonder how much it will increase in next patch, but i think its gonna be a lot!
I have tried physical, but it is very single target. I play solo, so I really need some aoe. I tried also the hexing pants, but for me it is hard to mantain the buf. Do you use some kind of keymapping? (sorry for me English)
Fire rune is the best, since it's the only rune that gives a decent amount of AoE damage without sacrificing your bracers' damage. Additionally, i would go against using Hexing pants because i don't see it working with the nature of this build. You'll have to stutter-step the ENTIRE time, and that's pretty much just begging to get carpal tunnel. I mean, if you're willing to do that go ahead lol, but i really don't think it's worth it. Especially since this build already does so much damage. Damage is really not what this build needs extra.
Fire rune is the best for solo. I play mostly groups nowdays and the Physical shield bash crus thrives, snipping rift guardians. I have a friend that his crus does 20 bill per crit. if you were talking entrirelly on solo purposes u have to go fire. If you are switching to group runs, speed rifts ** , for exp, u have to go physical, one or two shotting elites is pretty easy. Most people in D3 dont play solo these days, because the advantages that group speed runs give you, are way too imbalanced.
Hexing pants are a hard choise to neglect because they give you so much dps. I know that the playstyle isnt so pretty and tiring but the damage bonus is a must.
I havent tried fire that much, but i know the dps is low. How much do u guys crit in average?
Fire rune is the best for solo. I play mostly groups nowdays and the Physical shield bash crus thrives, snipping rift guardians. I have a friend that his crus does 20 bill per crit. if you were talking entrirelly on solo purposes u have to go fire. If you are switching to group runs, speed rifts ** , for exp, u have to go physical, one or two shotting elites is pretty easy. Most people in D3 dont play solo these days, because the advantages that group speed runs give you, are way too imbalanced.
Hexing pants are a hard choise to neglect because they give you so much dps. I know that the playstyle isnt so pretty and tiring but the damage bonus is a must.
I havent tried fire that much, but i know the dps is low. How much do u guys crit in average?
Lol what do you mean the damage bonus is a must? If you're worried about damage on this build then you're doing something wrong. I can breeze through 55 now. I can probably do 60 easily if i managed to survive. In 2.3 i can see myself pushing mid 60s easily. So the damage from Hexing pants is not "a must". Toughness is a lot more important. The DPS on Fire is insane.
I plan on running a Fire Shield Bash in 2.3. I am not interested in the Blessed Hammer build. Looks extremely boring to play, so i'll be seeing how far i can push the Shield Bash build. Currently i have cleared 55 (a few times). Failed 56 a few times due to too many deaths. My current setup is Fyrnace, String of Ears, Mara's, Focus and Restraint, BotT, Esoteric, Mutilation.
Not sure what cube come 2.3. I was thinking Blood Brother for weapon 100%. But for Armor and Jewelry i'm really not sure.
For Armor i feel like there really are not a lot of good choices. Leoric's Crown would be alright for another 23% Life (i use an Amethyst and not a Diamond, this build doesn't need CDR right now). 23% more life could be useful, but i don't know if it's really needed. Aside from that, i have no idea what to use.
For Jewelry i am stuck between two choices. I can take either a.) Unity or b.) OROTZ. Unity obviously gives 50% Damage reduction, but a Zodiac would give me 100% Akarat's uptime as well as 150% Armor. I'm not sure what the difference in terms of damage mitigation is between +150% Armor and -50% Damage, and this is pretty much the deciding factor.
What do you guys think?
Hmm well unity seems like a better choice for overall toughnes upgrade but if u can somehow evade elemental damage then zodiac is probably beter
I'm probably going to be running Fire/Roland's in 2.3 as well I just enjoy the game play too much to change. For me I think this is going to be my grand setup.
Weapon: Either Blood Brother or Furnace Cubed - I currently don't have a ancient of either so which ever I get an ancient first. I'm going to prefer the BB though, because for Xmog sake there are many more 2Hand Sword options than 2hand Axe/Hammer.
Armor: I'm thinking of running Cinder Coat for the 30% reduction on fire skills. I couldn't really find an armor slot that fit that better other than more HP from leorics.
Jewelry: I'm probably going to use Unity in solo play and use either Zodiac or CoE in group play.
Initially i was thinking Cindercoat too, but tbh i feel like it's a big waste. You really don't need resource cost reduction with this build. Someone else mentioned that he might be using St. Archew's Gage as it should offer some good benefit if you have really high Life/HP. I'm currently sitting at around 1300k HP so a 150% absorb shield would almost completely absorb any damage an Elite/Champ pack can do before they're dead. Right now that actually seems like the only "decent" option.
GR 55 without Unity, only String of Ears? Wow, impressive. How do you manage to survive?
I have no ancient Furnace, so my top GR with shield bash is only 45 :-(
What generator do you use for the rings affixes? If you use Punish, the Angel Hair Braid belt is one option to be cubed.
Especially if you want to have blood brother in your weapon combo. Block chance = 31% (shield) + 20% (BB) + 15% (punish)
I am not sure if you have room for Provoke (Hit me). It will be a nice 50% increased Block Chance for 4 seconds...
In my opinion, death cheat mode + 35% damage increased + 150% armor + 5 wrath generation (perma AC Prophet) >>> 50% reduced damage (Unity).
If you are able to achieve perma AC Prophet, I think Zodiac is better, but i haven't tested any PTR yet 0:-)
I have a lot of toughness on this build. Diamonds instead of Rubies, Esoteric Alteration and Mutilation Guard, Amethyst instead of Diamond in the Helm, and i use Laws of Justice - Immovable Object instead of Laws of Valor. I think i have around 82m Toughness unbuffed. Just not enough for anything higher than 55 yet.
Wow! Don't you have wrath starving without Laws of Valor (Unstoppable Force)?
I feel that when I get the 150% IAS of the 6 Roland pieces I really need that law...
Or you prefer to go 4 Rolands+Cindercoat+Magefists or similar?
I really appreciate your help.
I use the 6-piece. And i don't really think i ever run into Wrath issues, except on RGs. I'll always run out of Wrath a few times if they don't spawn adds. I use Shield Glare - Zealous Glare (i think that's what it's called) to manage Wrath otherwise. And when i run out of Wrath on the RG it takes a few seconds to top it back up with my generator plus the insane Attack Speed bonus you get from Roland's set. It takes a while to get used to, but once you get the hang of things you won't really have much trouble keeping your Wrath up.
OK. I will try it. Thanks a lot for the advises!
I think Furnace + Blood Brother would be best combo.
Slaytanicc how do you kill anything quick enough at Grift 55 with no IAS law, no rubies.. seems like your more defensively geared.. I admit my S3 Fire Shield bash 'sader feels a bit like a glass cannon sometimes.. but my biggest trouble is not being able to kill things quick enough to do the Grift.. 45 is my highest solo.. I dont have a furnace either tho..
That being said, lots of great ideas being tossed around here.. looking forward to Fire Rolands 2.3
Physical shield bash is better than fire. The phys rune gives so much dps, its really powerfull. Having an ancient furnace on main, and blood brother on cube will really melt rift guardians, especially in group parties with the extra damage provided by supports, for speed runs. Cubed ring would be convention and armor hexing pants. I do 16-17 billion per crit witrh my current setup on Rift guardian, non ptr. I wonder how much it will increase in next patch, but i think its gonna be a lot!
I have tried physical, but it is very single target. I play solo, so I really need some aoe. I tried also the hexing pants, but for me it is hard to mantain the buf. Do you use some kind of keymapping? (sorry for me English)
Fire rune is the best, since it's the only rune that gives a decent amount of AoE damage without sacrificing your bracers' damage. Additionally, i would go against using Hexing pants because i don't see it working with the nature of this build. You'll have to stutter-step the ENTIRE time, and that's pretty much just begging to get carpal tunnel. I mean, if you're willing to do that go ahead lol, but i really don't think it's worth it. Especially since this build already does so much damage. Damage is really not what this build needs extra.
For solo fire is best. i dont use keymapping. just side steps. its not rly that hard to mantain the buff.
Lol what do you mean the damage bonus is a must? If you're worried about damage on this build then you're doing something wrong. I can breeze through 55 now. I can probably do 60 easily if i managed to survive. In 2.3 i can see myself pushing mid 60s easily. So the damage from Hexing pants is not "a must". Toughness is a lot more important. The DPS on Fire is insane.
I have 78% block with Piro (31%), an ancient BB (17%), HYG passive (15%) and the punish buff (I use f&r so it's always up).
Cubed Coverns Criterion shield, cindercoat and unity/CoE
By cubing Cinder you can change the wrath reduce law to the Crit dam law.
i have so swapped my string of ears belt for an ancient angel hair braid.
i use the standard build by CptKoulio, just swapped the death cheat for HYG.
Bottom line.... You can't die easy. Use CoE in T10 for easier killing. unity for GR pushing.
You can also swap A Champ for consecration... Or your law for a purely def one for additional 'lack of dieing'