Full video session can be found here on my Twitch channel.
Things to know: - Any gear talk assumes Ring of Royal Grandeur is included
- I'm going to assume you know the basics of gearing (i.e. importance of eDPS modifiers and EHP stats)
- CDR = cooldown reduction
- RCR = resource cost reduction
- EB = Explosive Blast
- WoW = Wand of Woh
Last week I posted up an early version of a Fire Archon build, which can be found here. So check that first if you haven't.
Anyway, I lucked out and managed to snag a very, very pretty Wand of Woh. And all I did to change my build was replace my Thunderfury with the wand, switch out Sparkflint for Explosive Blast - Chain Reaction, and as per Blizzard Entertainment advertising, the wand was build-changing in every possible meaning of the phrase.
For more information and discussion on pure EB Wand of Woh builds, a.k.a "Chainpocalypse," I highly recommend checking out this in-depth thread that my good friend Melkor spearheaded in the official wizard forum. It's an ongoing discussion with new insights coming in all the time.
About the Build: Anyway, the overall play style isn't really all that much different than the generic Fire Archon build I ran before. Basically attack with whatever's in your arsenal and pop Archon when the situation calls for it. A common issue with any Archon build in RoS is that damage output drops when the wizard isn't in Archon form and WoW pretty much solves it.
Great things come from the combination of WoW and the Vyr 4-piece bonus.
In general situations, spamming EB and Conflagrate gets the job done.
Against elites with plenty of nearby trash mobs, Archon can burst the elites down in very little time, acting as either the initiator (feeding on trash mobs and burning down elites, or using the initial nuke from Combustion as a means to finish off a fight).
Against high HP single targets like Rift Guardians, the Mirrorball + Conflagrate combination quickly ramps up damage that a stackless Archon cannot cover in 20 seconds.
In scenarios where melee combat isn't the best option (against Fire Chains + Electrified elites, for instance), kiting and casting Conflagrate from a distance until Archon is off cooldown is a welcomed option that's not available for non-Mirrorball users (e.g. those who prefer buffing up with Flame Blades).
I find that most Chainpocalypse users have greater issues involving defense than they do with offense. Black Hole - Event Horizon and/or Teleport can deal with most situations, but the dangerous melee play can easily get anyone killed. For the Hybrid Chainpocalypse Archon variant, Teleport is given up in place of Archon, and Archon ends up being as much a burst kill button as an "oh @#$%" button for the added defensive stats, permanent Slow Time, free knockback attacks, and an absurdly low cooldown Teleport. Also, in place of insane amounts of CDR and EB bonus stats on gear (many run excess of 50-60% CDR), you can stack more generic DPS and EHP stats.
For instance, many traditional Chainpocalypse users will select the following gear:
Cindercoat:
- fire bonus
- intelligence
- vitality/life or AR/armor or EB bonus
- 3 sockets
In addition, many pieces of gear, such as gloves, rings and source may include CDR in place of defensive stats. On gloves? That's up to 750 vitality being traded away for 8% CDR. And all the AR and armor on gear given up for CDR really, really adds up. While CDR directly increases the eDPS of pure EB casts with WoW, like any other build, there's balance to be achieved.
In comparison, all of the EB and/or CDR stats above can be replaced with additional vitality/life/AR/armor for added survivability for a Fire Archon build. Instead of 50-60% or more CDR, I run about 47% (could go for a little more... maybe). In addition, I can't really justify running a Cindercoat with a Fire Archon because the build doesn't really use resources at all. The RCR from Cindercoat is, after all, its main point of attraction.
There is only one immediate change I would make with my gear setup, one that I am still actively working on.
I am contemplating replacing my Vyr's Grasping Gauntlets with Magefist and switching out my Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit to my Vyr's Astonishing Aura to maintain the 4-piece bonus, but the Vyr's chest is so much glassier than Tal's, resulting in a side-grade from defense to offense. The fact that my Vyr's gloves also have near maximum stun chance doesn't make the decision any easier (though I wish the IAS on the gloves were CDR).
What else? Ah, inb4 "What about Arcane Torrent + Archon?" and "Did you try the arcane Explosive Blast runes?"
The traditional arcane variant of Archon is totally viable. 100%. I went as far as switching out all my fire gear to my original arcane gear and switching Chain Reaction EB to Obliterate and Time Bomb. While using Arcane Torrent - Disruption to debuff targets and hammering them with massive damage from Time Bomb (1039% damage per hit!!!) with Archon on the side for stickier situations, that's a lotof power right there.
But there's a big problem. It's incredibly difficult to sustain over longer periods of combat. Arcane Torrent requires you to stand still and the skill can get expensive in terms of resources. This means you will need APoC and RCR. Using Capt. Crimson's (Silk Girdle, Thrust, Waders) as part of your gear set is an option, but that takes away two of the belt/pants/boots slots, meaning you will have to run the Vyr chest (glassy) if you run Crimson belt and boots or belt and pants. You'll also lose offensive powerhouse belts like Harrington Waistguard or defensive powerhouse belts like String of Ears.
Then you'll probably throw APoC and CDR on the source (so no vitality, EB/Torrent bonus, area damage, etc. there). RCR and/or CDR on gloves and/or shoulders? Probably give up vitality and/or AR/armor then. Cannot stack attack speed because that will really drain resources when using Arcane Torrent. Balancing becomes a much bigger and much more daunting task. In the end, I'd just skip the EB portion of the build and stick with just Torrent and Archon, or vice versa, skip Archon and stick with EB and Torrent (replacing whichever dumped skill for another skill, like Teleport). Personally, I'd just go Torrent-Archon with maybe the Tal 4-piece mixed in (kind of like what I used to run before the 2.0.5 Archon changes).
Still, the arcane variant of Chainpocalypse can deal a truckload of damage in very little time. It's very bursty. The fire variant, in comparison, is much, much more sustainable because it needs no resource management (hell, I dumped Paragon points into gold find because my area damage and LOH are maxed out and there's no need for RCR). It might not deal damage as fast, but it ramps up and is more flexible.
But what if you can't run this?! AHH, WAND OF WOH IS TOO RARE.
Try Meteor - Molten Impact in place of EB. It isn't too shabby. I ran it for a bit before obtaining WoW. Clunkier, even with CDR, but it gets the job done.
Still need the Vyr set, though. No getting around that.
...
Just some of my thoughts. I'm still learning about the build and trying out new things.
Sounds great. That's pretty much what I had in mind except that I didn't pick a skill to sacrifice for Archon itself. Don't know if I can live without Teleport again.
I swear every time a patch comes out, and I think the new build I come up with is an awesome build no one has thought of.... I come to diablofans and see the great Jaetch is 1 day ahead of me!
This is a really fun build to run, and one of the few that perform just as good (if not better) on high torments, as it does on low torments. I share you're opinion on cdr, and I am happy with around 30sec of downtime with archon. The WoW is soo good that I sometimes find myself not using archon just so i can enjoy the WoW/mirrorball combo a little longer!
Great job explaining another fun build, and next time a patch comes out.... wait an extra day before posting the new build, so I can feel special for 24hrs
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B.Net Profile Don't feed the trolls....they will bite your hand off.
Hey Jaetch, how do you feel about the dps during archon compare with dps of EB/MM outside of it? My WOW have relatively low dps compared to yours (20xx avg dmg, with 10%cdr) and I find that I do FAR lower dps in archon mode (as I have low weapon dmg, and archon does not benefit much from stacking CDR as compared with EB , which roughly 1% CDR = 1% dps increase.
I've tried out fire archon a bit with WOW, the main bit I find useful is how much initial damage it does with combustion, so I mainly use it to shotgun down elite packs, and right click the buff to return back to nonarchon form. (and for that purpose I probably don't need Vyr 4pc either, so I can stack more fire%/CDR pieces)
Also how do you feel about frost nova with bonechill/cold snap replacing archon? It gives far more utility for higher torments?
You have to pick your situations with Archon. You can't just use it whenever you want.
I activate Archon in the following situations:
1. Elites with tons of surrounding trash mobs
2. Elites that can summon trash (e.g. Death Maidens, Maggot Broods, etc.)
3. Burst down elites with Harrington Waistguard active
4. I'm stuck and surrounded by trash
5. I see a healing well (use Trag'Oul Coils to reset Archon)
Sometimes I'll use Archon in less-than-ideal situations and I pay for it with lower damage output. EBs stack around 10M or so at max against elites, but with 10+ stacks on Archon (not hard to do), each individual strike can easily reach over 50M, not counting the spammable blast from the 1-key. With Harrington Waistguard, there have been times when I was able to 1-shot T6 elites. Area damage helps a lot here. When the beam ticks for 50M, and I've often seen it reach in excess of 70-80M+, there's no way EB can compete with that.
That's why you have to practice analyzing your environment before deciding whether or not you're going to activate Archon. I'm still practicing this myself. It's not easy.
Quote from Xx_kaio_xX
And with all this %fire ( with better gear you can have more than 100...) maybe u don't need Vyr...
What u think?
Too much of a trade-off; And 120-second cooldown vs. 100-second cooldown before CDR is factored in is a huge deal. Say 50% CDR, which is relatively standard, that's another 10 seconds of waiting. In addition, you'd be running an Archon without perma-Slow Time, which is incredibly useful against ranged enemies and other projectiles, and without a 3-second cooldown Teleport (sub-2 seconds with CDR) and you'd be without the 22% bonus damage from the Improved Archon rune, thereby absolutely crippling your damage output.
Honestly, based on the discussions I've had with some players attempting to run Archon in a build, most don't actually understand when or why they're using Archon at all.
When you use Archon, it's to provide burst, not just from the first instance from the explosion. You're using it to near instantaneously ramp up damage to an absurd level and DPS down targets before they can become too dangerous. You also use it as a means to instantly increase your defense and provide insane mobility in case you're caught in a bad spot. You don't just activate Archon for the initial burst and wonder whether or not you're doing enough damage for the 20-second duration. You're supposed to activate Archon for the burst, plus feed on all the nearby mobs that are just waiting to be killed so you can just exhale on elites and watch them melt in seconds.
Quote from Dreadmure
curious about your teammate with frost spec. what build is he/she uses, items?
That's dolynick. He uses 20 APoC and Meteor cost reduction with legacy items so it's not easily replicable by any means.
I measure build potential in T6 and no lower than T6. If a build/gear set can handle T6, it can handle content below that.
Pure EB has a major issue. Raw survivability. So many EHP stats get sacrificed for CDR and EB bonuses (Cindercoat is one of my most hated items because of its ridiculous glassiness and also because its RCR is more or less completely wasted for EB; I'm starting to strongly dislike Andariel's for the same glassy reason). Play style, player skills, and some niche stats on gear (such as immunity stats) deal with some scenarios, but not all. Constant melee action can easily get you killed even with Teleport and Black Hole.
Pure Archon has a major issue. Crap damage outside of Archon form. Even with maximum CDR (highly recommend NOT going this route if you want to play effectively at high levels), you're giving up a ton of other DPS/EHP stats, which more or less renders you a half-effective Archon anyway. Unless your plan is to constantly Teleport-kite all over the screen until Archon wears off and you have to wait again. As for the Vyr chest, as much as I love the way it looks, it's glass and it sucks. Really. I only use it when running Capt. Crimson and speed farming Bounties and low Torment Rifts.
But if effective T6 isn't the goal, then yeah, you have a lot more options on the table.
Quote from Xx_kaio_xX
And with all this %fire ( with better gear you can have more than 100...) maybe u don't need Vyr...
What u think?
Too much of a trade-off; And 120-second cooldown vs. 100-second cooldown before CDR is factored in is a huge deal. Say 50% CDR, which is relatively standard, that's another 10 seconds of waiting. In addition, you'd be running an Archon without perma-Slow Time, which is incredibly useful against ranged enemies and other projectiles, and without a 3-second cooldown Teleport (sub-2 seconds with CDR) and you'd be without the 22% bonus damage from the Improved Archon rune, thereby absolutely crippling your damage output.
Honestly, based on the discussions I've had with some players attempting to run Archon in a build, most don't actually understand when or why they're using Archon at all.
When you use Archon, it's to provide burst, not just from the first instance from the explosion. You're using it to near instantaneously ramp up damage to an absurd level and DPS down targets before they can become too dangerous. You also use it as a means to instantly increase your defense and provide insane mobility in case you're caught in a bad spot. You don't just activate Archon for the initial burst and wonder whether or not you're doing enough damage for the 20-second duration. You're supposed to activate Archon for the burst, plus feed on all the nearby mobs that are just waiting to be killed so you can just exhale on elites and watch them melt in seconds.
Quote from Dreadmure
curious about your teammate with frost spec. what build is he/she uses, items?
That's dolynick. He uses 20 APoC and Meteor cost reduction with legacy items so it's not easily replicable by any means.
Yeah I agree with all now that I make some tests...
I was thinking to use tal amu belt and orb... but not sure...
Assuming you are running 3 piece tals and then RRoG to get the 4 piece bonus, id recommend not going that route. The mentors that comes from tals loses it's usefulness in the higher torments. And even if you did use tals, the amulet slot is actually a bad choice because of the "immunity" amulets that are available.
I haven't watched the video yet so excise me if you do this already but have you tried swapping weapons while in archon? I run pretty much the same build with the items you mentioned that you wanted to swap. While in archon I noticed sqapping to a 30% elite dmg sun keeper increases dps significamtly or even my TF just because of the higher dmg on my TF(2400). Sometomes in messy situations, swapping is too much of a hassle But I try to swap whenever possible.
its gotten to the point where I just start dragging 2-3 elite packs together while looking for a chest for the harringtons buff and put on my sun keeper for the extra damage to elites with the combustion rune. It's amazing how fast you can burn everything down with the initial blast.
After reading your post about wizards subbing out CDR for stats I was wondering if I should go back to attack speed because of conflagration. My sheet dps is very low because of subbing out attack speed in various places, I.e grandeur ring, gloves, Tals chest. Do you think attack speed is better than cdr for the magic missle variation of EB? Let me know what you think!
IAS does absolutely nothing for EB because the spell takes up no attack turns.
I really don't like weapon swapping. Swapping bracers is already a hassle.
I was referring to IAS for the Magic Missile part of the build, not for EB. Afaik it stacks the DoT faster, so I thought it might be a good idea to grab some IAS.
If you don't give up any other form of DPS stat, then yes, Conflagrate will stack faster. But if you're giving up any form of DPS for IAS, then you're stacking faster, but not ticking for more damage.
And since Conflagrate isn't going to be the main form of damage, IAS is not going to be optimal. CDR, on the other hand, directly increases eDPS for EB, and at the same time, for Archon.
I got to try this during the weekend and the super-archon feels nice, but for the time being, I'm back to pure EB/Conflag.
What I took from the discussion in this thread, is that Archon is supposed to be used as either an offensive alpha strike (requiring lots of trash mobs around that die from the transformation) or a defensive cd that provides a huge EHP boost.
Now I can't play t6 (except for some ugly mat farming), so I can't judge the EHP requirements there, but in t4 I feel less squishy with both (regular) Teleport and Black Hole - Event Horizon on my bar. And with Chain Reaction going off all the time it's rather tough to switch to Archon before the precious buff-fodder is dead
Plus I get to keep Cpt. Crimson in that setup.
Jaetch, what do you think (or maybe even know) how many stacks of the Archon buff are required to surpass the damage from EB+Conflag?
Also, totally different topic: Does the #1 button of the Archon abilities trigger Strongarm Bracers? I wondered about their usefulness when I played without BH.
Stack requirements vary from player to player. Depends how much your EBs crit for and how much your Archon attacks tick/hit for. If all of my EBs crit on elites for 10-12M while overlapping a few times per second and Archon with 10 stacks hit for 50M+ per beam tick (and similar amount per 1 key blast), that's all I need and picking up those stacks isn't hard to do.
Nothing Archon does trigger Strongarm. The left click attack used to, but something went wrong there and it's reported that it no longer triggers Strongarm.
I posted this exact hybrid build in your original fire archon thread. Glad you like it as well. Only difference is i mix in 2 piece borns instead of 2 piece tals.
I am actually testing some improvements but i wanted to ask the community. Once we have the Bis items (woh, RoRG, SoJ,3 Vyrs 2 tals, 2 Aughilds,Mirrorball ) we can choose just one item. I dont know what is the best choice: Magefists, Ice climbers, Strongarm, Harrington, string of ears or tal belt. What do you think?
Another question: on my Tal Chest i can reroll armor in order to get % elite dmg redux. Is it a smart reroll or do i keep my +armor?
Segments:
1st Rift: 0:21 - 8:21
2nd Rift: 8:38 - 16:26
3rd Rift: 16:45 - 26:40
4th Rift: 27:34 - 37:36
5th Rift: 37:51 - 48:16
Full video session can be found here on my Twitch channel.
Things to know:
- Any gear talk assumes Ring of Royal Grandeur is included
- I'm going to assume you know the basics of gearing (i.e. importance of eDPS modifiers and EHP stats)
- CDR = cooldown reduction
- RCR = resource cost reduction
- EB = Explosive Blast
- WoW = Wand of Woh
Last week I posted up an early version of a Fire Archon build, which can be found here. So check that first if you haven't.
(For convenience, the video in that thread can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08MhpbYrPPs )
Anyway, I lucked out and managed to snag a very, very pretty Wand of Woh. And all I did to change my build was replace my Thunderfury with the wand, switch out Sparkflint for Explosive Blast - Chain Reaction, and as per Blizzard Entertainment advertising, the wand was build-changing in every possible meaning of the phrase.
For more information and discussion on pure EB Wand of Woh builds, a.k.a "Chainpocalypse," I highly recommend checking out this in-depth thread that my good friend Melkor spearheaded in the official wizard forum. It's an ongoing discussion with new insights coming in all the time.
About the Build:
Anyway, the overall play style isn't really all that much different than the generic Fire Archon build I ran before. Basically attack with whatever's in your arsenal and pop Archon when the situation calls for it. A common issue with any Archon build in RoS is that damage output drops when the wizard isn't in Archon form and WoW pretty much solves it.
Great things come from the combination of WoW and the Vyr 4-piece bonus.
For instance, many traditional Chainpocalypse users will select the following gear:
Shoulders:
- intelligence
- vitality/life or AR/armor
- EB bonus
- CDR
Chest (generic):
- intelligence
- vitality/life or AR/armor
- 3 sockets
- EB bonus
Cindercoat:
- fire bonus
- intelligence
- vitality/life or AR/armor or EB bonus
- 3 sockets
In addition, many pieces of gear, such as gloves, rings and source may include CDR in place of defensive stats. On gloves? That's up to 750 vitality being traded away for 8% CDR. And all the AR and armor on gear given up for CDR really, really adds up. While CDR directly increases the eDPS of pure EB casts with WoW, like any other build, there's balance to be achieved.
In comparison, all of the EB and/or CDR stats above can be replaced with additional vitality/life/AR/armor for added survivability for a Fire Archon build. Instead of 50-60% or more CDR, I run about 47% (could go for a little more... maybe). In addition, I can't really justify running a Cindercoat with a Fire Archon because the build doesn't really use resources at all. The RCR from Cindercoat is, after all, its main point of attraction.
There is only one immediate change I would make with my gear setup, one that I am still actively working on.
Swap Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom to Aughild's Spike (I need to craft a good one) and replace Aughild's Search with Strongarm Bracers (sitting in my stash; Black Hole counts as a knockback effect).
I am contemplating replacing my Vyr's Grasping Gauntlets with Magefist and switching out my Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit to my Vyr's Astonishing Aura to maintain the 4-piece bonus, but the Vyr's chest is so much glassier than Tal's, resulting in a side-grade from defense to offense. The fact that my Vyr's gloves also have near maximum stun chance doesn't make the decision any easier (though I wish the IAS on the gloves were CDR).
What else?
Ah, inb4 "What about Arcane Torrent + Archon?" and "Did you try the arcane Explosive Blast runes?"
The traditional arcane variant of Archon is totally viable. 100%. I went as far as switching out all my fire gear to my original arcane gear and switching Chain Reaction EB to Obliterate and Time Bomb. While using Arcane Torrent - Disruption to debuff targets and hammering them with massive damage from Time Bomb (1039% damage per hit!!!) with Archon on the side for stickier situations, that's a lot of power right there.
But there's a big problem. It's incredibly difficult to sustain over longer periods of combat. Arcane Torrent requires you to stand still and the skill can get expensive in terms of resources. This means you will need APoC and RCR. Using Capt. Crimson's (Silk Girdle, Thrust, Waders) as part of your gear set is an option, but that takes away two of the belt/pants/boots slots, meaning you will have to run the Vyr chest (glassy) if you run Crimson belt and boots or belt and pants. You'll also lose offensive powerhouse belts like Harrington Waistguard or defensive powerhouse belts like String of Ears.
Then you'll probably throw APoC and CDR on the source (so no vitality, EB/Torrent bonus, area damage, etc. there). RCR and/or CDR on gloves and/or shoulders? Probably give up vitality and/or AR/armor then. Cannot stack attack speed because that will really drain resources when using Arcane Torrent. Balancing becomes a much bigger and much more daunting task. In the end, I'd just skip the EB portion of the build and stick with just Torrent and Archon, or vice versa, skip Archon and stick with EB and Torrent (replacing whichever dumped skill for another skill, like Teleport). Personally, I'd just go Torrent-Archon with maybe the Tal 4-piece mixed in (kind of like what I used to run before the 2.0.5 Archon changes).
Still, the arcane variant of Chainpocalypse can deal a truckload of damage in very little time. It's very bursty. The fire variant, in comparison, is much, much more sustainable because it needs no resource management (hell, I dumped Paragon points into gold find because my area damage and LOH are maxed out and there's no need for RCR). It might not deal damage as fast, but it ramps up and is more flexible.
But what if you can't run this?! AHH, WAND OF WOH IS TOO RARE.
Try Meteor - Molten Impact in place of EB. It isn't too shabby. I ran it for a bit before obtaining WoW. Clunkier, even with CDR, but it gets the job done.
Still need the Vyr set, though. No getting around that.
...
Just some of my thoughts. I'm still learning about the build and trying out new things.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Sol77-2972/hero/66110450
1. Thunderfury → Wand of Woh
2. Sparkflint/Molten Impact → Explosive Blast
That's all I changed really, other than a couple of upgrades (better SoJ, better Vyr boots).
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
This is a really fun build to run, and one of the few that perform just as good (if not better) on high torments, as it does on low torments. I share you're opinion on cdr, and I am happy with around 30sec of downtime with archon. The WoW is soo good that I sometimes find myself not using archon just so i can enjoy the WoW/mirrorball combo a little longer!
Great job explaining another fun build, and next time a patch comes out.... wait an extra day before posting the new build, so I can feel special for 24hrs
Don't feed the trolls....they will bite your hand off.
I've tried out fire archon a bit with WOW, the main bit I find useful is how much initial damage it does with combustion, so I mainly use it to shotgun down elite packs, and right click the buff to return back to nonarchon form. (and for that purpose I probably don't need Vyr 4pc either, so I can stack more fire%/CDR pieces)
Also how do you feel about frost nova with bonechill/cold snap replacing archon? It gives far more utility for higher torments?
I activate Archon in the following situations:
1. Elites with tons of surrounding trash mobs
2. Elites that can summon trash (e.g. Death Maidens, Maggot Broods, etc.)
3. Burst down elites with Harrington Waistguard active
4. I'm stuck and surrounded by trash
5. I see a healing well (use Trag'Oul Coils to reset Archon)
Sometimes I'll use Archon in less-than-ideal situations and I pay for it with lower damage output. EBs stack around 10M or so at max against elites, but with 10+ stacks on Archon (not hard to do), each individual strike can easily reach over 50M, not counting the spammable blast from the 1-key. With Harrington Waistguard, there have been times when I was able to 1-shot T6 elites. Area damage helps a lot here. When the beam ticks for 50M, and I've often seen it reach in excess of 70-80M+, there's no way EB can compete with that.
That's why you have to practice analyzing your environment before deciding whether or not you're going to activate Archon. I'm still practicing this myself. It's not easy.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Honestly, based on the discussions I've had with some players attempting to run Archon in a build, most don't actually understand when or why they're using Archon at all.
When you use Archon, it's to provide burst, not just from the first instance from the explosion. You're using it to near instantaneously ramp up damage to an absurd level and DPS down targets before they can become too dangerous. You also use it as a means to instantly increase your defense and provide insane mobility in case you're caught in a bad spot. You don't just activate Archon for the initial burst and wonder whether or not you're doing enough damage for the 20-second duration. You're supposed to activate Archon for the burst, plus feed on all the nearby mobs that are just waiting to be killed so you can just exhale on elites and watch them melt in seconds.
That's dolynick. He uses 20 APoC and Meteor cost reduction with legacy items so it's not easily replicable by any means.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Pure EB has a major issue. Raw survivability. So many EHP stats get sacrificed for CDR and EB bonuses (Cindercoat is one of my most hated items because of its ridiculous glassiness and also because its RCR is more or less completely wasted for EB; I'm starting to strongly dislike Andariel's for the same glassy reason). Play style, player skills, and some niche stats on gear (such as immunity stats) deal with some scenarios, but not all. Constant melee action can easily get you killed even with Teleport and Black Hole.
Pure Archon has a major issue. Crap damage outside of Archon form. Even with maximum CDR (highly recommend NOT going this route if you want to play effectively at high levels), you're giving up a ton of other DPS/EHP stats, which more or less renders you a half-effective Archon anyway. Unless your plan is to constantly Teleport-kite all over the screen until Archon wears off and you have to wait again. As for the Vyr chest, as much as I love the way it looks, it's glass and it sucks. Really. I only use it when running Capt. Crimson and speed farming Bounties and low Torment Rifts.
But if effective T6 isn't the goal, then yeah, you have a lot more options on the table.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
I haven't watched the video yet so excise me if you do this already but have you tried swapping weapons while in archon? I run pretty much the same build with the items you mentioned that you wanted to swap. While in archon I noticed sqapping to a 30% elite dmg sun keeper increases dps significamtly or even my TF just because of the higher dmg on my TF(2400). Sometomes in messy situations, swapping is too much of a hassle But I try to swap whenever possible.
its gotten to the point where I just start dragging 2-3 elite packs together while looking for a chest for the harringtons buff and put on my sun keeper for the extra damage to elites with the combustion rune. It's amazing how fast you can burn everything down with the initial blast.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Makiah-1473/hero/17086556
After reading your post about wizards subbing out CDR for stats I was wondering if I should go back to attack speed because of conflagration. My sheet dps is very low because of subbing out attack speed in various places, I.e grandeur ring, gloves, Tals chest. Do you think attack speed is better than cdr for the magic missle variation of EB? Let me know what you think!
I really don't like weapon swapping. Swapping bracers is already a hassle.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
And since Conflagrate isn't going to be the main form of damage, IAS is not going to be optimal. CDR, on the other hand, directly increases eDPS for EB, and at the same time, for Archon.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
What I took from the discussion in this thread, is that Archon is supposed to be used as either an offensive alpha strike (requiring lots of trash mobs around that die from the transformation) or a defensive cd that provides a huge EHP boost.
Now I can't play t6 (except for some ugly mat farming), so I can't judge the EHP requirements there, but in t4 I feel less squishy with both (regular) Teleport and Black Hole - Event Horizon on my bar. And with Chain Reaction going off all the time it's rather tough to switch to Archon before the precious buff-fodder is dead
Plus I get to keep Cpt. Crimson in that setup.
Jaetch, what do you think (or maybe even know) how many stacks of the Archon buff are required to surpass the damage from EB+Conflag?
Also, totally different topic: Does the #1 button of the Archon abilities trigger Strongarm Bracers? I wondered about their usefulness when I played without BH.
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Sol77-2972/hero/66110450
Nothing Archon does trigger Strongarm. The left click attack used to, but something went wrong there and it's reported that it no longer triggers Strongarm.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Great job, thx Jaetch.
I use the same build.
My profile:http://eu.battle.net/d3/fr/profile/Hectorbodies-2249/hero/30791928
I am actually testing some improvements but i wanted to ask the community. Once we have the Bis items (woh, RoRG, SoJ,3 Vyrs 2 tals, 2 Aughilds,Mirrorball ) we can choose just one item. I dont know what is the best choice: Magefists, Ice climbers, Strongarm, Harrington, string of ears or tal belt. What do you think?
Another question: on my Tal Chest i can reroll armor in order to get % elite dmg redux. Is it a smart reroll or do i keep my +armor?
Thank you all